Kawasaki set to trial Australian hydrogen exports in 2020
Monday, 22 July 2019
MELBOURNE, July 20 (Reuters): Japan's Kawasaki Heavy Industries on Friday began building facilities in Australia to liquefy and ship hydrogen, aiming to start exporting the fuel in a trial in the second half of 2020.
The A$500 million ($355 million) pilot project in Victoria state is one of several Japan is betting on in a push by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to put hydrogen into vehicles, homes and power stations, with the Tokyo Olympics as a showcase in 2020.
KHI said on Friday it would build a liquefaction facility, storage and a loading terminal by June 2020, with operations to run from 2020 to 2021.
The demonstration project, backed by the Japanese and Australian governments and the state of Victoria, will produce hydrogen from brown coal from Australia's largest coal mine, Loy Yang, owned by AGL Energy.