Two large Japanese corporations have withdrawn their support for Australian hydrogen projects within days of each other – amid continued investment into fuel-cell cars by Toyota.
The plan involved converting brown coal to liquefied hydrogen in Victoria’s Gippsland region, to be transported via specially-built ships out of Hastings – providing Japan’s industry with a steady supply of clean-burning hydrogen.
Japanese car giant Toyota has been one of a handful of manufacturers pushing for hydrogen to be adopted as an alternative fuel – either replacing petrol with internal-combustion engines, or used in conjunction with fuel-cells to convert hydrogen to electricity.
However, it now appears Japan’s Kawasaki Heavy Industries has walked away from the deal with Victoria, with local media claiming it had become “difficult to produce hydrogen in Australia within the deadline.
The Victoria Government provided $50 million of start-up capital to the program – in an effort to support jobs in the La Trobe Valley, home to coal-fired powerplants – while the Japanese Government pledged an investment of $2.35 billion.
It’s just the latest Australian hydrogen project to be abandoned by Japanese partners in a matter of days.