First liquefied hydrogen voyage imminent

A liquefied hydrogen carrier is preparing to leave Australia for Japan carrying the world's first seagoing hydrogen cargo, on a milestone voyage in the development of hydrogen transport logistics.

The 1,250m³ capacity Suiso Frontier arrived in Australia on 19 January after a 16-day maiden voyage from Japan and will return carrying a modest cargo of around 75t.

The voyage is part of a $385mn pilot project run by the Hydrogen Energy Supply Chain (HESC) joint venture, which aims to develop a network for hydrogen produced from brown coal in Victoria, southern Australia, to Japan, a likely net importer in a future hydrogen economy.

HESC is led by Kawasaki Heavy Industries and involves several more Japanese firms including electricity producer J-Power, industry gas firm Iwatani, trading companies Marubeni and Sumitomo, shipowner K-Line, and refiner Eneos. Also involved are Australian utility AGL, Shell, and the governments of Australia and Japan.

The hydrogen was made by gasification of brown coal and biomass. Emissions were not captured, but HESC has said they would be mitigated by the purchase of carbon offsets in the pilot phase. Carbon capture and storage (CCS) would be deployed if the project advances to the commercial stage, it said, with the offshore CarbonNet project the likely destination.

But HESC's project has been met with allegations of greenwashing, or at best a misapplication of resources because of the limited environmental benefits delivered.

Researchers including members of the Hydrogen Science Coalition have questioned whether the multi-stage process — gasification to make hydrogen, CCS, liquefication of hydrogen at minus 253°C, and shipping — would deliver meaningful carbon savings, given the cost of the project.

Fossil-derived hydrogen with CCS is sometimes promoted as a bridge solution until the cost of renewables-derived hydrogen falls, but is controversial because the CCS technology is unproven. Critics of the HESC pilot have noted the Suiso Frontier is fuelled by conventional bunker fuel.

The value of developing pure hydrogen ships is debated, since transporting hydrogen in the form of ammonia or liquefied organic hydrogen carriers (LOHC) is likely to be more energy efficient and economical.

But shipbuilders are developing designs for even larger hydrogen carriers. The builder of the Suiso Frontier, Kawasaki Heavy Industries, is developing a much larger 160,000m³ carrier, and South Korean shipbuilder Samsung Heavy Industries aims to develop its own 160,000m³ hydrogen carrier design.

By Aidan Lea