The 1.5MW demonstration plant on Bulwer Island in Queensland will produce up to 680kg of green hydrogen per day from 2026.
Commissioned by Japan’s New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO), the plant will run for two years, with hydrogen set to be bound to a liquid carrier to allow it to be transported at room temperature and low pressures.
Having secured funding from the Japanese Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry’s Green Innovation (GI) Fund, the MCH plant will be built on the site of a former bp refinery close to the Port of Brisbane. A “portion” is due to be shipped to Japan.
Construction of the green hydrogen facility will begin next year, with MCH production expected by the middle of 2026.
Australian Minister for Finance, Trade, Employment and Training, Ros Bates, who is leading a trade mission to Japan and South Korea, said, “ENEOS’s increase in local green hydrogen production will create over 100 new specialist jobs for Queensland in a key growth industry.”
ENEOS will work with other Japanese companies including Chiyoda Corporation, Sumitomo Electric Industries, TOPPAN and AGC, as well as Brisbane-based firms GPA and GPRS.
ENEOS plans to use methylcyclohexane (MCH), a liquid organic hydrogen carrier (LOHC). Hydrogen can be chemically bonded to MCH through a toluene hydrogenation process.
Classified as a saturated hydrocarbon, MCH can be stored and transported in existing petrochemical infrastructure, potentially reducing the cost of moving hydrogen.
Earlier this year, ENEOS said it would develop the “world’s first” commercial-scale LOHC project using Honeywell’s technology.
Although the idea of chemically binding hydrogen to a carrier liquid was first tested in the 1970s, the technology is only now edging closer to reality, with the potential of the process being rapidly explored by key players with hopes of commercialisation in the near future.
