After Japan’s government published the Basic Hydrogen Strategy in 2017, over 50 supply chain plans sprang up from business consortiums and municipalities. Now, new feasibility study launches are continuing into this year. 

The Hydrogen Society Promotion Act that passed the Diet in May promises subsidies for 15 years for qualified projects. Many studies and projects in Japan are about building supply chains, rather than a large production base. 

The new sources of clean energy need to satisfy the “S+3E” criteria to get state funding. It stands for “safety, economic efficiency, energy security and environment-focused”. This means that supply plans need to address consumer demand, which is about delivering hydrogen in an economically efficient manner. Hydrogen user hubs need to identify their sources of stable supplies. 

Green hydrogen production sites will go onstream in 2025, and the next wave of hydrogen market hype will be about 2027, when ammonia-coal co-firing begins. In the 2030’s, hydrogen-fired power generation and other technologies under development are expected to fully enter the market. 

This analysis is Part 1 of two articles, and it looks into the projects in an advanced phase. Naturally, the smaller ones are commercializing first.