Japanese Firms form Kobe-Kansai Hydrogen Utilisation Council
A total of 11 Japanese industrial and energy companies have come together to form the Kobe-Kansai Hydrogen Utilisation Council with the goal of developing a hydrogen supply chain in the Kobe-Kansai area, the Council said on September 4.
The companies involved in the initiative are Electric Power Development, Eneos Corporation, Iwatani Corp, The Kansai Electric Power Company, Kawasaki Heavy Industries, Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha, Kobe Steel, Marubeni Corp, Mitsubishi Power, Obayashi Corp, and Shell Japan.
The Council will promote the creation of a concrete structure of a project to demonstrate how hydrogen can be utilised commercially by 2025. It will also draw a pathway to realising large-scale commercialisation of hydrogen utilisation by 2030, the Council said.
The Kansai area is home to some of the world's most advanced hydrogen projects, including those implemented by the New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organisation (NEDO). There are also hydrogen energy supply chain pilot projects, such as the liquefied hydrogen receiving terminal in Kobe Airport Island being managed by the CO2- free Hydrogen Energy Supply-chain Technology Research Association (HySTRA), a demonstration project at Kobe Port Island, Hydrogen Co-Generation System (Hydrogen CGS), and research ventures into hydrogen power generation.
Joining the Council as observers will be the agency for natural resources and energy at the ministry of economy, trade and industry, NEDO and Kobe City.