Four Japanese companies, including Iwatani Corporation, Kawasaki Heavy Industries, Kansai Electric Power, and Marubeni Corporation, and two Australian-based energy infrastructure companies Stanwell Corporation Limited and APT Management Services Pty signed a memorandum of understanding to jointly implement a hydrogen energy project in central Queensland (CQ-H2).

The joint statement of the two companies stated that the project will use renewable energy to produce hydrogen on a large scale, liquefy it in Gladstone, Queensland, Australia, and then export the liquefied hydrogen to Japan. Since it is widely believed that hydrogen is an indispensable energy source for achieving a zero-carbon society, it is essential to establish a hydrogen supply chain including overseas transportation.

However, because the currently established hydrogen production technology using fossil fuels emits CO2 during the production process, in order to achieve a zero-carbon society, it is necessary to combine CO2 capture and storage technology to establish a CO2-free hydrogen production technology and use renewable energy. As the global competition for carbon dioxide-free hydrogen sources intensifies, it is important to ensure low-cost power supplies from renewable energy sources and export ports.

In this context, the Queensland Government has been promoting the transition of energy from fossil fuels to renewable energy and hydrogen. In addition, Queensland has a very high potential for renewable energy, as the region has more than 300 days of good weather conditions each year. Stanwell, a power company owned by the Queensland Government, has also played a key role in achieving this energy transition goal.

Therefore, from 2019 to 2020, Iwatani and Stanwell conducted conceptual research on the production of green liquefied hydrogen and its export to Japan. Based on the results of the study, six Japanese and Australian companies agreed to fully implement a feasibility study to check the commercial feasibility of the project. The CQ-H2 project aims to reliably produce and supply low-cost hydrogen over the long term, and has set a goal of producing at least 100 tons of hydrogen per day by around 2026, and a goal of producing 800 tons of hydrogen per day from 2031.

Japan’s current production of liquefied hydrogen is up to 30 tons per day, which means that the target production of 800 tons per day from 2031 is about 26 times Japan’s current production. The project will consider using the Aldoga site (235 hectares), a hydrogen production base acquired by Stanwell in the Gladstone area, and will purchase about 100 hectares in Fisherman's Landing as a basis for hydrogen liquefaction and loading.

The CQ-H2 project will also consider the supply of green hydrogen, not only for export to Japan, but also to meet local demand. The feasibility study will focus on reviewing green hydrogen-based production technologies, the construction of hydrogen liquefaction plants and liquefied hydrogen carriers, related financial and environmental assessments, and commercialization models.

Keywords: new energy, overseas engineering, international engineering construction, foreign engineering construction news

The joint statement stated that through the activities of the project, the six companies will make every effort to build a bilateral large-scale hydrogen supply chain promoted by the Japanese and Australian governments, thereby contributing to the realization of a zero-carbon society.Editor/XuNing