Japan targets Southeast Asia’s hydrogen potential

Government’s decarbonisation drive, deep economic ties and beneficial geography drive investment in the region

Southeast Asia may not have made the most headlines in the race to lead the emerging hydrogen economy, but Japanese firms are certainly eyeing the region’s long-term potential. Roughly half of all hydrogen projects in Southeast Asia since 2020 have had direct Japanese financial involvement, according to research from Columbia University’s Center on Global Energy Policy. Malaysia is one country seeing plenty of activity. Japanese oil firm Eneos, together with trading house Sumitomo, recently announced plans to produce c.90,000t/yr of CO₂-free hydrogen in the Malaysian state of Sarawak. In 2022, Eneos also partnered with state-owned oil giant Petronas to test commercial low-carbon hydrogen pro