The world’s first liquefied hydrogen carrier left Japan on December 24, to pick up its first cargo in Australia, with a return to Japan expected around late February.
This is part of a $362 million pilot project, led by Japan’s Kawasaki and supported by the Japanese and Australian governments.
The project was originally scheduled to ship its first cargo of hydrogen extracted from brown coal in Australia in the spring. However, it was delayed to the second half of Kawasaki’s financial year, which runs from October to March, due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
According to Reuters, Kawasaki Heavy now aims to replicate its success as a major LNG tanker producer with hydrogen, a key element that may help decarbonise industries and aid the global energy transition.
In March this year, the Japanese-Australian venture began producing hydrogen from brown coal in the test project that aims to show liquefied hydrogen can be produced and exported safely to Japan.
Partners on the Australian side of the project include Japan’s Electric Power Development Co, Iwatani Corp , Marubeni Corp, Sumitomo Corp and Australia’s AGL Energy Ltd , whose mine is supplying the brown coal.