The Hydrogen Energy Supply Chain (HESC) Pilot Project was successfully completed in February 2022 with the arrival of the Suiso Frontier in Kobe, Japan with a load of liquefied hydrogen extracted from Latrobe Valley coal. This achievement proved the HESC Project’s technical viability and the basis for Project Partners to progress to creating a Liquefied Hydrogen Supply Chain Commercial Demonstration Project between Victoria and Japan.
On March 6th, after a review of several potential projects in Australia and around the world, Japan Suiso Energy (JSE) confirmed it had chosen to allocate the Japanese Government’s Green Innovation Fund (GIF) grant of ¥220 billion Japanese Yen (approximately AU$2.35 billion) to the commercial demonstration phase of Victoria’s HESC Project. The grant was originally allocated to Japan Suiso Energy, Iwatani Corporation and ENEOS in August 2021.
The commercial demonstration project will be delivered by two consortia.
First will be J-POWER and Sumitomo Corporation, who will form a joint-venture to produce clean hydrogen via extraction from Latrobe Valley coal with carbon capture, utilisation and storage (CCUS) in the Bass Strait. Read their statement here
The other is Japan Suiso Energy (JSE), comprised of Kawasaki Heavy Industries and Iwatani Corporation, who will purchase clean hydrogen from the J-POWER/Sumitomo Corporation project and will be responsible for liquefaction at the Port of Hastings and trans-oceanic shipment from Victoria to Japan. Read their statement here.
At a potential future scale of 225,000 tonnes per year, the HESC Project has the potential to reduce global CO2 emissions by 1.8 million tonnes/year, equivalent to taking approximately 350,000 petrol engine cars off the road and create about 1,000 jobs per year in Victoria
For more information on hydrogen liquefaction and transportation, please visit https://www.japansuisoenergy.com/en/.
All news and updates will continue to be published on this website and enquiries can be sent to [email protected].


Urgent Emissions Reductions
In a commercial phase, HESC will reduce global CO2 emissions by 1.8 million tonnes per year, the equivalent of taking 350,000 cars off the road.

An Advanced Hydrogen Project
HESC is Australia’s most advanced hydrogen project; and the first project in the world to make, liquefy and transport liquid hydrogen by sea to an international market.

Jobs
In a commercial phase, HESC could create 30,000 jobs in the Latrobe Valley and Mornington Peninsula regions.
HESC’S Vision
The world-first Hydrogen Energy Supply Chain (HESC) Project aims to safely produce and transport clean liquid hydrogen from Australia’s Latrobe Valley in Victoria to Kobe in Japan.
The project has the potential to be a game-changer – providing an innovative, economically viable and environmentally conscious solution to producing clean hydrogen safely, through gasification of coal with carbon capture and storage (CCS).
Latest News
See the latest from HESC. Subscribe to our newsletter and we’ll keep your inbox informed of project updates!
J-Power welcomes Governor of Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand to Latrobe Valley
On 4 August, J-Power hosted Mr Boonyanit Wongrukmit, Governor of the Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand (EGAT), and his delegation at the HESC Pilot Project’s hydrogen gasification facility in Latrobe Valley. This visit comes as EGAT, responsible for power system security in Thailand, continues to explore the use of hydrogen in the energy sector. It…
How to make net zero happen – a report from Net Zero Australia
On 12 July 2023, Net Zero Australia published How to make net zero happen, Mobilisation report building upon six modelled scenarios where Australia achieves net zero by 2050. The report’s message is clear: the scale of Australia’s decarbonisation challenge is so large that simultaneously progressing multiple carbon reduction pathways is a requirement, not an option….
NEDO visit HESC’s Latrobe Valley Pilot Plant
From left: (NEDO) Dr Takanori Kugimiya, Mr Kazuho Shobu, (Kawasaki Heavy Industries) Mr Shigeru Yamamoto, Mr Norio Ueda, (J-POWER) Mr Jeremy Stone, (Hydrogen Engineering Australia) Mr Haruki Sugiyama. On 24 July 2023, a delegation from Japan’s New Energy and Industrial Technology Development agency (NEDO) visited the HESC pilot hydrogen production facility in the Latrobe Valley…