Japan's Iwatani, Cosmo to develop hydrogen supply chain at Chiba refinery

COSMO ENERGY HOLDINGS

06/10/2026 07:11

TOKYO, Oct 6 (Reuters) - Japan's Iwatani Corp 8088.T and Cosmo Energy Holdings 5021.T said on Tuesday they have made a final investment decision to jointly develop a hydrogen supply chain at Cosmo's Chiba refinery near Tokyo, with operations scheduled to start in 2030.
Cosmo Oil, a unit of Cosmo Energy, will restore an idled hydrogen production plant at the refinery with a capacity of about 80 metric tons per day, investing about 20 billion yen ($126.5 million).
Iwatani Industrial Gases, an Iwatani unit, will build a liquefied hydrogen plant with a capacity of 11.6 tons per day, investing about 30 billion yen.
Cosmo will use the hydrogen in its refining process and supply part of the output to Iwatani, which will liquefy it and distribute it to domestic customers.
The project will secure a stable hydrogen supply for the refinery while expanding Iwatani's domestic liquefied hydrogen production capacity. Iwatani supplies about 70% of Japan's hydrogen.
The companies said consolidating hydrogen production will reduce costs compared with separate investments and help build a competitive domestic hydrogen supply chain
Engineering, procurement and construction will be led by Cosmo Iwatani Hydrogen Engineering, a joint venture established by the companies in 2023.
The project turns the companies' capital and business alliance, agreed in April 2024, into a concrete investment, following Iwatani's acquisition of an additional stake in Cosmo in 2023 to become its largest shareholder.
($1 = 158.0800 yen)

 (Reporting by Yuka Obayashi; Editing by Sonia Cheema)
 ((Yuka.Obayashi@thomsonreuters.com; +813-4520-1265;))