Japanese firms say tanker pilot shows coal to hydrogen plan feasible
08/03/2022 13:04
TOKYO, March 8 (Reuters) - Kawasaki Heavy Industries (KHI)
and other Japan-based firms said on Tuesday that a pilot project
to transport hydrogen produced from brown coal in Australia to
Japan in the world's first liquefied hydrogen tanker had proven
technically feasible.
While hydrogen is widely touted as a fuel of the future with
zero carbon emissions, it requires intensive energy input, with
renewables to produce "green hydrogen". Critics say emissions
from brown coal derived hydrogen are twice that of natural gas.
The A$500 million ($364 million) project, led by KHI
7012.T and backed by the governments of Japan and Australia in
an effort to cut carbon emissions, was originally due to ship
its first cargo a year ago but was delayed by the COVID-19
pandemic. urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL1N2U1084
Electric Power Development (J-Power) 9513.T , which is in
charge of producing the project's hydrogen, said it has tested
using biomass with coal to help offset CO2 emissions while it
aims to implement carbon capture utilization and storage (CCUS)
in the future to make hydrogen that is completely CO2-free.
The KHI-built Suiso Frontier tanker eventually left
Australia this year on Jan. 25 and arrived in Kobe, western
Japan, a month later, the consortium said, adding it had
unloaded its cargo of hydrogen by the end of February.
"The demonstration covered from production and transport to
loading and storage proved that the technological foundations
have been laid for the future use of hydrogen as an energy
source in the same way as liquefied natural gas (LNG)," Motohiko
Nishimura, KHI's executive officer, told reporters.
KHI aims to replicate its success as a major LNG tanker
producer with hydrogen, which is seen as critical by Japan to
decarbonise industries that rely on coal, gas and oil and to
achieving net-zero emissions by 2050, while Australia aims to
become a major exporter of the fuel. urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL4N2JZ07G
"Equipment and facilities that can be operated safely is
also a game-changing technology for the clean energy business,"
KHI's Nishimura said.
In addition to KHI and J-Power, the consortium includes
Shell's SHEL.L Japanese unit, Iwatani Corp 8088.T , Marubeni
8002.T , Eneos Holdings 5020.T and Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha
9107.T .
The partners did not disclose a cost structure for the
project, saying it was aimed at proving feasibility and safety.
KHI said it aims to build a much larger hydrogen vessel in
mid-2020s and to commercialize the business in the early 2030s.
($1 = 1.3727 Australian dollars)
(Reporting by Yuka Obayashi; Editing by Alexander Smith)
((Yuka.Obayashi@thomsonreuters.com; +813-4520-1265;))