Japan announces 370 billion yen (£2.4 billion) boost for hydrogen industry
21 May 2021
The Japanese government announced on May 18 that it will allocate 370 billion yen (£2.4 billion) towards accelerating hydrogen research and development (R&D) and promotion. The money will come from Japan’s green innovation fund and follows an announcement in December 2020 in which the government set the goal of boosting hydrogen demand to 20 million tonnes a year by 2050.
According to Reuters news agency, New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO), a state-owned R&D agency, began accepting applications for two hydrogen projects on May 18. One will be a 300 billion yen project to create a large-scale supply chain of hydrogen and promote demand. The other is a 70 billion yen project which will develop a large-scale cost efficient hydrogen production system by water electrolysis using electricity derived from renewable energy sources, Japan’s industry ministry said.
The two projects are the first of 18 potential projects that could be funded to improve R&D. Reuters says the financial boost will come from the Japanese government’s 2 trillion yen (£13 billion) green innovation fund which aims to help Japan become carbon neutral by 2050.
Details of other R&D projects that may be funded by the government fund will likely be announced later in 2021. Among the projects are plans to lower offshore wind farm costs and building a supply chain of fuel ammonia, Reuters reports.
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