Reuters: World’s first hydrogen tanker to ship test cargo to Japan from Australia
A Japanese-Australian venture producing hydrogen from brown coal is set to start loading its maiden cargo on the world's first liquid hydrogen carrier on Friday, in a test delayed by nearly a year because of the COVID-19 pandemic
The Suiso Frontier, built by Japan’s Kawasaki Heavy Industries (KHI) (7012.T), arrived Australiathis week from Kobe, following a longer trip than the expected 16 days as theship dodged bad weather and rough seas, said a spokesperson for the Hydrogen Energy Supply Chain (HESC)venture. The ship is scheduled to head back to Japan in about a week.
Led by KHI, HESC is a A$500 million ($360 million) coal-to-hydrogen project backed by Japan and Australia as a way to switch to cleaner energy and cut carbon emissions.
Hydrogen, seen as a path to decarbonising industries that rely on coal, gas and oil, is key to Japan’s goal to achieving net-zero emissions by 2050. Australia aims to become a major exporter of the fuel.
The Australian government on Friday committed a further A$7.5 million for HESC’s A$184 million pre-commercialisation phase, and A$20 million for testing a capture and storage project for carbon dioxide released in the coal-to-hydrogen process to create a carbon neutral product.
