Japanese engineering firm Kawasaki Heavy Industries (KHI) is building a small-scale power generation unit for domestic refiner Seibu Oil co-fired by hydrogen and regasified LNG, targeting a commissioning in August this year.

KHI said it is now building a 34MW power unit that can burn 20-50pc of hydrogen with gas, at an unspecified location. Seibu Oil declined to provide any details about the project. It has a 120,000 b/d refinery at Yamaguchi.

This is KHI's first hydrogen power project on a commercial basis. The company previously built a 1MW hydrogen co-generation pilot plant at Kobe in west Japan's Hyogo prefecture in 2017.

Demand for hydrogen-sourced electricity is growing in Japan, especially after Tokyo pledged in October last year to achieve a carbon neutral society by 2050. The country's hydrogen demand is projected to hit 3mn t/yr in 2030 and 20mn t/yr by 2050.

Japanese renewable power producer Erex is also developing a 300KW-class hydrogen-fired power project, aiming to start operations sometime in the April 2021-March 2022 fiscal year. The plant would be Japan's first hydrogen-dedicated power plant on a commercial basis, according to the company.