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 to see the technology involved in establishing the world’s first liquefied hydrogen supply chain.
The Liquefied Hydrogen Supply Chain Commercialisation Demonstration Project has been allocated approximately AU$2.1 billion from Japan’s Green Innovation Fund. The Green Innovation Fund was established by Japan’s Ministry of Economic, Trade, and Industry (METI) to support decarbonisation initiatives.
In March 2023, Hastings was selected as the hydrogen export base to establish a hydrogen supply chain between Japan and Australia. The grant will be used to establish an innovative hydrogen liquefaction loading facility at the Port of Hastings, delivering and unloading to the import terminal in Kawasaki-city, Japan.
Initially, 40,000 tons of clean hydrogen per year will be produced, of which approximately 30,000 tonnes per year will be liquefied and transported to Japan, and approximately 10,000 tonnes per year will be available for use in Australia. This will help to reduce emissions in both Australia and Japan as both countries target net-zero.
In a July 2023 trip to Japan, Australian Minister for Climate Change and Energy Chris Bowen said, “The development of new energy sources and diversification of supply chains are crucial to achieving Japan and Australia’s shared target of net-zero by 2050.”