Japanese team to trial renewable hydrogen supply chain

A Japanese public-private partnership is preparing to kick off a project to trial a hydrogen supply chain that will use hydrogen produced using wind energy to power forklifts, Toyota Motor Corp (TYO:7203) said on Monday.

The project, announced in September, will take place at facilities along Tokyo Bay. The aim is to create an end-to-end low-carbon hydrogen supply chain and to examine costs and estimate potential carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions reductions in a future full-fledged chain.

The project will feature a system to produce hydrogen by electrolyzing water using wind power from the Yokohama City Wind Power Plant. The hydrogen will be then compressed, stored and transported in a hydrogen fueling truck to four sites, where it will be used in fuel cells to power a total of 12 forklifts.

Trial operations are due to start in the autumn with the introduction of a single forklift at two facilities. The full-scale system will start operations in fiscal year 2017.

Besides Toyota, the team includes the Kanagawa prefectural government, two municipal governments and two other private sector companies -- Iwatani Corp and Toshiba Corp. They are supported by Japan's Ministry of the Environment.

Choose your newsletter by Renewables Now. Join for free!