Hazer Group has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Chubu Electric and Chiyoda Corporation to establish a commercial-scale hydrogen facility in Japan’s Chubu region.
The proposed facility will utilize Hazer’s proprietary technology to produce clean hydrogen and graphitic carbon, and Chubu Electric Power will use the hydrogen as a fuel for power generation and other hard-to-abate industries, as well as mobility in the Nagoya area.
The project is planned to have a target ultimate hydrogen production capacity of between 50,000 and 100,000 tonnes per annum, with the initial production capacity expected to be between 2,500 and 10,000 tpa. The Project Development Plan (PDP) is set to be completed by the first half of 2024, with the initial start-up of the facility targeted for the late 2020s.
Chubu Electric, Chiyoda, and Hazer will collaborate to develop and implement the project, forming a Project Group for this purpose. The three entities have agreed to work together to prepare the PDP for a clean hydrogen and graphitic carbon production hub based on Hazer’s technology.
Kouji Sada, the general manager of the Electric Power Research and Development Center of Chubu Electric, stated, “Chubu Electric Power Group is firmly committed to the decarbonisation of its operations and that of our customers. We believe the Hazer technology offers an attractive solution to locally produce low carbon hydrogen, using our existing supply chains and infrastructure.” Norimasa Matsuoka, the senior vice president of the Frontier Business Division of Chiyoda, commented, “Chiyoda has been closely collaborating with Hazer for some time. We believe Hazer’s innovative technology has a strong alignment with the Japanese market and we are delighted to be working together with Chubu Electric and Hazer, bringing our engineering and project expertise to bear on this exciting project for early social implementation towards a carbon-free society.”
Glenn Corrie, managing director of Hazer Group, expressed his enthusiasm for the project, saying, “We feel privileged to be working with world-class and strategically aligned partners in Chubu Electric and Chiyoda, both of which have been leaders in their fields and have a demonstrated vision to decarbonise society. This partnership complements our already established partnership with Mitsui relating to our graphite offtake and is further validation of the Hazer technology business plan.” As a journalist with 20 years of engineering experience, I can say that this partnership has the potential to make a significant contribution to the reduction of carbon emissions and the decarbonisation of industries.
