JSE, K Line, MOL and NYK global liquefied hydrogen supply chain jv

The joint venture JSE Ocean aims to bring together and quickly build up Japan’s maritime hydrogen supply chains.

Japan is already the pioneer of the seaborne hydrogen trades with the delivery of the Suiso Frontier in 2021 from Kawasaki Heavy Industries the world’s first liquefied hydrogen carrier.

JSE Ocean was established in January 2023 to research the marine transportation of LH2 by using a large-scale LH2 carrier to establish commercial scale transportation.

Now plans are underway to supersize this first ship, and to get ships of up to 160,000 cu m on the water soon. A first ship order from JSE Ocean is expected next year.

Japanese shipbuilders were the pioneers for much of the liquefied gas carrier design breakthroughs of the 1970s and 1980s, something they aim to replicate as the world transitions to new energy forms.

Japan’s Basic Hydrogen Strategy, revised by the Japanese government in June 2023, identifies hydrogen as the alternative to fossil fuels as it targets decarbonisation. In the Strategy Japan commits to a target of 3 million tonnes per year of hydrogen by 2030, 12 million tonnes per year by 2040, and 20 million tonnes per year by 2050.

In August 2021, Japan’s New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organisation (NEDO), allocated a grant from the Japanese government’s Green Innovation Fund to JSE, Iwatani Corporation and ENEOS Corporation for the “Liquefied Hydrogen Supply Chain Commercialisation Demonstration Project”.

In this project, JSE will establish the world's first large-scale hydrogen liquefaction and transportation technology, involving an initial 30,000 tonnes of hydrogen per year before upscaling. JSE will also demonstrate a comprehensive and reliable global liquefied hydrogen (LH2) supply chain, covering hydrogen production, liquefaction, export from Australia, marine transportation, and import.

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JSE, K Line, MOL and NYK global liquefied hydrogen supply chain venture