Japan revises hydrogen energy strategy, many problems to be solved

Japan plans to increase its hydrogen use six-fold to 12 million tons by 2040. At the same time, the public and private sectors will jointly invest 15 trillion yen in the next 15 years to promote hydrogen applications.

On June 6, the Japanese government held a ministerial meeting to revise the "Basic Strategy for Hydrogen" formulated in 2017. The Japanese government has set a goal of increasing hydrogen use six-fold to 12 million tons by 2040. At the same time, the public and private sectors will jointly invest 15 trillion yen in the next 15 years to promote hydrogen applications. In addition, nine technologies, including fuel cells, electrolytic water hydrogen production equipment, are listed as "strategic areas" and receive key support.

To popularize hydrogen energy by "reducing cost and increasing demand"

Japan's Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry Yasunoru Nishimura said at a press conference: "In the context of the energy crisis, hydrogen energy is attracting worldwide attention, and countries around the world are competing fiercely in this field. With the focus on decarbonization, we want to support the accelerated adoption of hydrogen in Japan." At the same time, he said that in order to help hydrogen energy "reduce costs and increase demand", the Japanese government will accelerate the development of support policies and establish a price gap subsidy mechanism between hydrogen energy and fossil fuels, in order to narrow the price gap between hydrogen energy and fossil fuels.

In addition, the Japanese government also said that it will provide support for hydrogen energy-related research and large-scale production. The industry generally believes that Japan aims to build hydrogen energy as a pillar industry in Japan through this revision of the "Basic Strategy for Hydrogen" and achieve overseas expansion on this basis.

Some Japanese hydrogen energy companies also welcomed the revision of the "Basic Strategy for Hydrogen". Hiroki Tanaka, a member of Tokuyama's electrolysis commercialization team, said in an interview with the media: "I have high hopes for the government's strategy to stimulate the demand for hydrogen, and Japan has a technological advantage in water electrolysis equipment, so it is important to find a way to use this advantage." At the same time, cost competition with overseas manufacturers is increasing, and we want to work with the public and private sectors to address this."

The lack of national standards causes a sense of crisis

It is understood that Japan has certain advantages in the development of hydrogen energy technology, and is also one of the earliest countries to implement a hydrogen energy strategy at the national level. Many Japanese companies such as Toyota, Nissan and Panasonic have many hydrogen technology patents, and the revised "Hydrogen Basic Strategy" declared in 2017 that Japan will realize the commercialization of hydrogen fuel power generation around 2030.

But hydrogen is not Japan's only field. According to relevant plans, by 2025, China's fuel cell vehicle ownership will reach 50,000, renewable energy hydrogen production will reach 100,000 tons to 200,000 tons per year. At the same time, Europe and the United States are also actively developing relevant strategies, for example, the United States plans to reach 50 million tons of green hydrogen annual production by 2050, and the European Union's "REpowerEU" energy transition action plan plans to establish a green hydrogen system with an annual output of 10 million tons. At the same time, countries are also actively developing hydrogen-related standards to encourage green hydrogen production and tightening blue hydrogen standards to reduce carbon emissions. In contrast, Japan, which has the advantage of hydrogen energy technology, has not yet issued relevant national standards, let alone strive for the international voice of hydrogen energy standards.

An official at Japan's Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry once revealed a sense of crisis: "Japan may lose out to other countries in hydrogen energy."

New energy cannot solve old problems

The revision of the Basic Strategy for Hydrogen also emphasizes that the Japanese government will support the development of technologies related to large-scale ocean-going hydrogen carriers. At present, Japan's Kawasaki Heavy Industries Co., LTD. (Kawasaki Heavy Industries) is currently the only company with ship transportation technology for liquefied hydrogen, the world's first ship built specifically for the transportation of liquefied hydrogen completed the first hydrogen-carrying voyage from Australia to Japan in February this year.

However, although hydrogen is a new energy source, it has not helped Japan solve the old problem of heavy dependence on energy imports. Motohiko Nishimura, Executive director of Kawasaki Heavy Industries, Vice President, Energy Solutions & Marine and Hydrogen Strategy Division, said: "As a resource-poor country, Japan imports most of its energy, but Japan is also one of the highest energy consumers. Renewable energy in Japan has limited space for development, and now in order to reduce carbon emissions in production, Japan can only rely on electrolytic water to produce hydrogen. Covering Japan's huge energy consumption with renewable energy and domestically produced hydrogen will be difficult. Without a cheap and stable supply of hydrogen from overseas, Japan will not only be economically passive, but also face energy security risks."

In addition, Nishimura Mohiko also said that the goal of delivering 100% green hydrogen to Japan is impossible to achieve in the short term. Currently, most of the world's hydrogen is gray hydrogen, which has carbon emissions in the production process, and Japan, as a hydrogen importer, does not have many options. "According to the Japanese government's plan, by 2030, the total amount of hydrogen imports will reach 3 million tons, of which green hydrogen and blue hydrogen account for about 14%."