【Haichuan Hydrogen Energy】Japan seeks to build a global hydrogen energy supply chain

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This post was last edited by Desert Fish on 2021-11-21 at 14:14. It was originally posted on 2021-11-14 at 15:31 by Xinhua Net client. Liu Chunyan, a reporter from Xinhua News Agency. Against the backdrop of major countries around the world setting carbon neutrality goals and striving to achieve energy transitions, Japan is making steady progress in research and development of hydrogen energy technologies, aiming to create a global hydrogen energy supply chain and explore the establishment of a hydrogen-based society, in order to gain a technological and market advantage in this field. Since it does not emit carbon dioxide during combustion, hydrogen is regarded by various countries as an important energy source for the future. In 2017, Japan formulated the \"Basic Strategy for Hydrogen Energy,\" establishing an action plan to promote the use of hydrogen energy by 2030 and other objectives. Currently, Japan is at the world’s leading level in the research, development, and application of hydrogen energy. Not long ago, during an interview, a reporter saw the world’s first experimental ship designed for transporting liquefied hydrogen parked in a corner of Kobe Airport Island. Liquefied hydrogen produced in Australia is unloaded and stored here, and will be used for the hydrogen-based cogeneration demonstration experiment in Kobe. Building a hydrogen society presupposes an adequate supply of hydrogen that can be purchased at low prices. To establish a global hydrogen energy supply chain, with the support of the New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization under Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, seven major industry leaders including Kawasaki Heavy Industries jointly formed the specialized research project HySTRA. The project aims to produce hydrogen using lignite, which has the lowest degree of coalification, and to develop practical technologies for transporting and storing liquefied hydrogen, with the goal of commercializing hydrogen energy around 2030. HySTRA gasifies Australia’s lignite and refines hydrogen, while separating and recovering the carbon dioxide produced during the hydrogen production process. After being liquefied at an Australian port, the liquid hydrogen at minus 253 degrees Celsius is transported back to Japan aboard specially built ocean-going vessels. It is then unloaded at Kobe Airport Island using a specialized loading arm system, and transferred into dedicated storage tanks at the dock. Currently, this liquefied hydrogen is being used in pilot experiments that utilize hydrogen as an energy source to supply both electricity and heat to urban public facilities. Motohiko Nishimura, head of the HySTRA project and executive director at Kawasaki Heavy Industries, explained that in June this year the project completed full-chain demonstration experiments for the production, transportation, unloading, and storage of liquefied hydrogen, achieving initial success. At the end of 2017, as part of a project funded by the Japan New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization, Kawasaki Heavy Industries and the large construction company Oji Group built Japan’s first demonstration plant for a hydrogen-based combined heat and power system in Kobe. In April 2018, the project completed its practical tests, achieving for the first time in the world the supply of electricity and heat to designated public facilities in urban areas using 100% hydrogen fuel. Subsequently, to further improve power generation efficiency and environmental metrics, the project underwent technical improvements and enhancements. The current goal is to introduce hydrogen-based cogeneration systems in urban areas where public facilities are concentrated, by working together with power companies, in order to explore the creation of hydrogen cities. Motohiko Nishimura said that to achieve large-scale supply of liquefied hydrogen, further research and development as well as testing are needed in terms of technology, transportation, and safety. The goal is to complete commercial demonstration experiments by 2025 and achieve commercialization of the hydrogen energy supply chain by 2030.