ITM Power provides electrolyser for Japanese hydrogen demonstration

Sumitomo Corporation and Tokyo Gas have agreed to perform a collaborative hydrogen utilization demonstration experiment at the Tokyo Gas Yokohama Techno Station.

The project will utilize an ITM Power-developed megawatt-class solid polymer water electrolyser.

Sumitomo and Tokyo Gas will check the operation of ITM Power’s huge water electrolyser during this demonstration. This is the first operational verification conducted in Japan on a big water electrolyser manufactured outside of Japan.

Sumitomo Corporation intends to deliver a 2.0 MW-class water electrolyser to Tokyo Gas Yokohama Techno Station in June 2022 and begin a joint demonstration of the electrolyser. The hydrogen discharge pressure will be reduced from the product’s standard specification of 2 MPa to less than 1 MPa to comply with Japanese domestic regulations.

Tokyo Gas will install and operate the water electrolyser under a variety of operating conditions in order to gain a better understanding of the performance of the latest generation of water electrolysers and to amass knowledge about the introduction of large water electrolysers, including equipment operation and construction of associated facilities. The hydrogen produced will be used to conduct research and development on hydrogen utilization at Tokyo Gas’s Yokohama Techno Station with the goal of decarbonizing the facility. The two companies will share the outcomes of this demonstration and use them to further their commercial development.

Comment from Hajime Mori, Executive Officer, Energy Division General Manager, Energy Innovation Initiative Director, Sumitomo Corporation:

“Sumitomo Corporation entered into a strategic partnership with ITM Power in 2018 and has been working to introduce the company’s solid polymer water electrolyser into the Japanese market. ITM Power’s advanced and cost-competitive electrolysis technology is set to drive green hydrogen production projects in Japan that use large electrolysers. At Sumitomo Corporation, we will continue to accelerate our efforts to build a hydrogen-based society with the aim of achieving carbon neutrality in 2050 and realizing sustainable energy cycles.”

Comment from Hisataka Yakabe, Executive Officer, General Manager of Hydrogen & Carbon Management Technology Strategy Department, Digital Innovation Division, Tokyo Gas:

“At the Tokyo Gas Group, we are strengthening our technological development for decarbonizing gas-state sources of energy in order to fulfil our ‘Challenge to Achieve Net Zero CO2’ that we set forth in our management vision ‘Compass 2030.’ Through this demonstration, we will accumulate operational know-how on large water electrolysers, accelerate their social implementation in combination with the development of direct hydrogen utilization and methanation technologies, and contribute to achieving the government’s goal of ‘realizing a carbon-neutral, decarbonized society by 2050.’”

Comment from Graham Cooley, CEO, ITM Power:

“It is an honour for us to deploy our first electrolyser in Japan with Tokyo Gas. Together with our partner Sumitomo Corporation, we are looking forward to demonstrating how PEM electrolysis can make a major contribution to decarbonising industry and energy in Japan. This megawatt scale product at the laboratory of such a prestigious customer will help us to become better known in the key Japanese market.”