Australian energy major Woodside has teamed up with Japan Suiso Energy (JSE) and The Kansai Electric Power Co. (KEPCO) to initiate the development of a liquid hydrogen supply chain between Australia and Japan.
The companies have formalized their partnership with a memorandum of understanding (MoU), envisioning the creation of a supply chain in which liquid hydrogen, produced at Woodside’s proposed H2Perth project in Western Australia, would be shipped in liquid hydrogen carriers to receiving terminals in Japan.
“The MoU reflects the parties’ shared ambition to accelerate the energy transition, bringing together technology, infrastructure and international collaboration to help power a lower-carbon future, underpinning the value of a hydrogen supply chain and further strengthening Australian–Japan relations,” the parties said in a joint statement.
The H2Perth project would be located in the Rockingham and Kwinana Industrial Zones in Perth.
The facility is intended to produce liquid hydrogen via natural gas reforming, with the goal of achieving net-zero Scope 1 and 2 greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from the start of operations.
As explained, this would be achieved through the application of carbon capture and storage (subject to further technical assessments and securing all necessary commercial arrangements and regulatory approvals), and to the extent needed, the use of carbon credits as offsets.
Since 2022, Woodside has been pursuing the development of shipping solutions for bulk marine transportation of liquid hydrogen with South Korean shipbuilding players HD KSOE and Hyundai Glovis. In early 2024, Japanese shipping giant MOL joined the project and signed a non-binding MoU to study the technology, safety, construction, operation, and economics of a carrier with 80,000 cubic meter tank capacity.
If a project results from the MoU, the parties aspire to have the vessel built and in operation by 2030. Under its concept design, the liquefied hydrogen carrier would use hydrogen as its main fuel.
Discussions between the parties contemplate that Woodside would be responsible for producing hydrogen and storing it at loading and discharging ports, and HD KSOE would design and build the vessel.
Hyundai Glovis and MOL would be responsible for providing ship operational input into the vessel design, including logistics, propulsion, storage, and cargo handling.