JFE Holdings, Inc. (JFE), JFE Steel Corporation (JFE Steel) and Japan Suiso Energy, Ltd. (JSE) jointly announced today that they have agreed to lease approximately 21 hectares of land on Ohgishima, a reclaimed island in Tokyo Bay where JFE Steel operates the Keihin facility of its East Japan Works, for JSE’s Liquefied Hydrogen Supply Chain Commercialization Demonstration Project.

The agreement marks a major step forward for the ongoing demonstration project, which is aimed at establishing large-scale hydrogen liquefaction and transportation technologies for an international liquefied-hydrogen supply chain to be commercialized in the 2030s. The undertaking was selected as a Green Innovation Fund Project by Japan’s New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO) in August 2021 and is scheduled to run until fiscal 2030 (ending March 2031).

JFE and the city of Kawasaki agreed on February 1, 2021 to repurpose land on Ohgishima following the JFE’s suspension of blast furnace operations and other upstream processes at the Keihin facility. A separate agreement was reached on May 28 this year to develop a section of the island known as the Ohgishima District Lead Area. Both agreements will help facilitate JFE’s sustainable development of the area and contribute to carbon-neutrality initiatives in Japan.

The demonstration, which is positioned as a lead project in Kawasaki’s future land use plans, is the first step in the reuse of Ohgishima. Hereafter, JFE and the city will cooperate in the development of roads and transportation access, as well as facilities for receiving liquefied-hydrogen tankers.

Ohgishima was selected as the liquefied hydrogen receiving site for the project because it is located in one of Japan’s key industrial areas, the Keihin Industrial Zone between Tokyo and Yokohama, where it is well positioned to meet hydrogen demand. JFE Steel, which owns the land, has entered into a lease reservation agreement with JSE, which was established in 2021 to help create a global supply chain for liquefied hydrogen on a commercial scale.

In the coming future, JFE Steel will begin removing buildings from the site, after which JSE will begin constructing demonstration facilities. The plan is to complete the facilities in fiscal 2028 and receive a liquefied hydrogen carrier in fiscal 2029, before completing the demonstration in fiscal 2030 and starting to supply hydrogen to Japan in the same year.

The three companies look forward to leading the way toward a hydrogen-powered society in Japan from Ohgishima, contributing to the sustainable development of both the local area and the nation as well as bringing Japan closer to carbon neutrality.

View of demonstration site

Agreement signing ceremony

(from left) Masayuki Hirose, president and CEO of JFE Steel, and Eiichi Harada, president of Japan Suiso Energy

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