Japan Aims to Commercialize Hydrogen from Fukushima

The Yomiuri Shimbun

15:23 JST, July 12, 2023

The government is set to officially begin considering the commercialization of hydrogen produced at one of the world’s largest hydrogen production facilities in Namie, Fukushima Prefecture as part of a plan to accelerate the Fukushima Plan for a New Energy Society.

The commercialization of hydrogen from the Fukushima Hydrogen Energy Research Field (FH2R) is likely to begin in fiscal 2026. The facility opened in 2020.

The central government, the Fukushima prefectural government and other parties were to agree on the plan to accelerate Fukushima new energy society plan on Wednesday. Beginning full-scale hydrogen supply using FH2R in fiscal 2026 would be part of establishing a hydrogen supply chain.

Currently, a demonstration project is underway at FH2R aimed at stabilizing hydrogen supply. Moving forward, the government will study support measures necessary for commercialization, and accelerate discussions regarding issues including a review of the operating entity, according to the plan.

The plan calls for exploring new forms of transportation that run on hydrogen in addition to existing fuel cell vehicles. Promotion of research and development of next-generation solar cells called perovskite solar cells, which originated in Japan, and consideration of their early adoption in public facilities in the prefecture were also included in the plan.