Japan in plans of investing $107Bn in hydrogen supply over 15 years

Japan is reportedly planning to invest $107.5 billion (15 trillion yen) over the next 15 years for supplying hydrogen to the country stated the government on Tuesday in a bid to accelerate efforts for using the gas to transit to a low carbon economy.

Worldwide, several countries are competing with one another for developing hydrogen because it may be valuable in cleaning up the energy sector while helping in reducing emissions in some of the hardest industries to decarbonize, including steel production and chemical manufacturing.

Japan, which first unveiled its Basic Hydrogen Strategy in 2017, revealed in a revised goal to increase hydrogen supply to 12 million tons annually by 2040.

Apparently, the initial plan expected the hydrogen supply in Japan to record 3 million tons from 2 million tons yearly by 2030.

It has also been revealed that Japan is aiming for about 20 million tons as it expects the global hydrogen market to accrue $2.5 trillion in annual revenue by 2050.

Sources further reveal that the government, from the 15 trillion yen, is planning to offer 6-8 trillion yen while the remainder would stem from the private sector, as per the industry ministry.

Furthermore, the plan is also aiming to assist Japanese companies in playing a central role in supplying the electrolysis required for producing hydrogen from water.

Apparently, this is setting a target for the Japanese-affiliated firms domestically as well as abroad to have a total worth of 15 gigawatts of electrolyze capacity from the currently less than 1 GW by the end of this decade.

The Japanese Government, in March 2023, committed $1.6 billion (¥220bn) to the Hydrogen Energy Supply Chain (HESC) project which is aimed at exporting hydrogen to Japan from Victoria, Australia.

Source Credits: https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/japan-invest-107-bln-hydrogen-supply-over-15-years-2023-06-06/