Hydrogen Utilization Study Group Launched in the Chubu Region, Japan

Ten private companies, working to promote hydrogen utilization, have established the Hydrogen Utilization Study Group to create demand for hydrogen and build a supply chain for stable hydrogen utilization in the Chubu region in Japan.   This Group will take its first effort in the country to conduct cross-sectional studies in various industries, such as energy (oil, gas and electricity), petrochemicals, automobiles, and finance.

Participant companies as of March 6, 2020 include Air Liquide Japan G.K., Chubu Electric Power Co., Inc., Idemitsu Kosan Co., Ltd., Iwatani Corporation, JXTG Nippon Oil & Energy Corporation, Mitsubishi Chemical Corporation, Sumitomo Corporation, Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation, Toho Gas Co., Ltd., and Toyota Motor Corporation.

Taking actions to tackle climate change is a critical issue globally and promoting sustainable and low-carbon energy use has long been desired.  Under such circumstance, the Japanese government set hydrogen as one of the key elements for sustainable energy and formulated the “The Strategic Roadmap for Hydrogen and Fuel Cells” to realize a “Hydrogen Society.”  The Roadmap set the plan to develop its commercial-scale and international hydrogen supply chain to procure 300,000 tons of hydrogen annually by around 2030.

Regarding hydrogen production and the supply sector, innovative technologies for social implementation have been executed by various groups of companies.  Meanwhile, in the demand side, studies on large-scale hydrogen utilization presently are being carried out by individual companies.

In response to this situation and to realize the social implementation of hydrogen, the ten companies have established this cross-industry Group, focusing on the Chubu region as a first step, and they launched the study to take action for creating the large-scale hydrogen demand in collaboration with hydrogen suppliers.  This Group aims for social implementation in the mid-2020s as a steppingstone to realize the Roadmap’s plan of “300,000 tons of hydrogen annually by around 2030.”   The Group will:

• Conduct scoping study of hydrogen demand from the hydrogen receiving terminals to end users in the Chubu region based on the presumption of largescale hydrogen transport from overseas.
• Estimate the potential demand of hydrogen in the entire Chubu region, such as in the power generation and oil industries, and in mobility.
• Conduct studies of sustainable hydrogen cost for each industry.
• Clarify the bottleneck on the technical, financial and legal frameworks to realize its business models that will lead to social implementation.

In order to realize the Roadmap, the Group must take a triumvirate approach consisting not only of technological development and cost reduction by industry, but also the implementation of funding schemes in cooperation with the financial institutions, as well as the designing of incentives, and regulatory framework carried out under government leadership.  This Group will play a key role in these efforts.  Eventually, the companies aim to work together with the government to spread the work of this Group, not only in the Chubu region but also to the other regions to spread nationwide.