Japan-Australia liquid hydrogen project secures $1.6bn in government funding

The HESC project plans to ship coal-derived blue hydrogen from the port of Hastings to Kawasaki in Japan

Australia’s Hydrogen Energy Supply Chain (HESC) project, which plans to ship coal-derived blue hydrogen to Japan, has entered its commercial demonstration phase after securing ¥220bn ($1.6bn) in funding from the Japanese government. Japan Suiso Energy (JSE), a joint venture (JV) between Japanese multinational Kawasaki Heavy Industries and industrial gases company Iwatani Corporation, will design and build facilities to liquefy hydrogen at the Australian industrial port of Hastings and ship it to the Japanese port of Kawasaki. The HESC project completed a trial shipment of liquid hydrogen between Hastings and Kobe in early 2022. 30,000-40,000t/yr – JPSC hydrogen production from Latrobe