An liquefied hydrogen carrier built by Kawasaki Heavy Industries has arrived in Australia to pick up its first shipment of hydrogen. It is expected that he will return to Japan in late February.

This vessel was designed to transport liquefied hydrogen at 1/800 of its original gas-state volume, cooled to –253°C, over long distances by sea in large quantities. It can carry 75 tonnes of liquefied hydrogen on a single voyage.

Gas and oil companies, including Iwatani Corporation (Iwatani), Shell Japan, and Electric Power Development Co., Ltd. (J-POWER), formed the CO2-free Hydrogen Energy Supply-chain Technology Research Association in 2016 with the goal of making hydrogen as common as petroleum and natural gas as a fuel (HySTRA).

This group has been working with the help of NEDO to build a hydrogen supply chain that is both cost-effective and reliable. Additionally, a liquefied hydrogen unloading terminal is being constructed in Kobe, Hyogo Prefecture, and a brown coal gasification facility is being built in Australia.

Japanese companies Kawasaki, Iwatani and J-POWER along with Marubeni Corporation and AGL Loy Yang have formed a joint venture in 2018 to build a gas refining facility, liquefaction and loading terminal, and other facilities.