Energy Source & Distribution gets an in-depth look at the Hydrogen Energy Supply Chain (HESC) project from Hydrogen Engineering Australia’s globally renowned hydrogen legend, Hirofumi Kawazoe.
By Nichola Davies
If you’re a Melbourne resident, you may spot Hirofumi Kawazoe out for a jog, at the tennis court or trying out new restaurants in the city renowned for its good food.
But by day, the Hydrogen Engineering Australia general manager is an integral part of the HESC project, which he says will be the (near) future of fuel.
Hirofumi worked as an instrument engineer in the industrial gas sector for 10 years in Japan and then moved over to commissioning air separation units overseas—mainly in South East Asia—and hydrogen refuelling stations in Japan.
Hirofumi worked on an impressive number of these projects while living in Japan—more than 20.
He joined the HESC project in 2016, but when working on hydrogen projects in Japan, hydrogen was not being considered broadly as a potential energy source.
But now, with the HESC project and other emerging hydrogen projects, Hirofumi says it will be the fuel of the future soon, “which is incredibly exciting for a cleaner future”.
“Nobody in Australia talked about hydrogen five years ago. Now lots of players are seeking opportunities for hydrogen business.
“I’m sure the hydrogen movement is boosting not only in Australia but also all over the world.
“Australia and Japan can be at the forefront of large-scale hydrogen production and trade.”
So what is the HESC exactly?
The HESC project aims to safely produce and transport clean liquefied hydrogen in Victoria’s Latrobe Valley to Kobe in Japan. A key objective of the pilot project is to demonstrate an end-to-end supply chain between both countries.
“It has the potential to be a game-changer, providing an innovative, economically viable and environmentally conscious solution to producing clean hydrogen safely through gasification of coal with carbon capture and storage (CCS),” Hirofumi says.
The HESC Project is being developed in two phases, beginning with a pilot, which aims to demonstrate that hydrogen can be produced using Latrobe Valley coal, liquefied, and then transported to Japan.
“Hydrogen is produced from coal at a newly constructed plant located at AGL’s Loy Yang Complex in the Latrobe Valley through a coal gasification and gas-refining,” Hirofumi says.
“Carbon offsets have been purchased to mitigate emissions from the pilot.
“In the commercial phase, carbon dioxide would be captured and stored deep underground in a process known as carbon capture and storage (CCS). The Australian and Victorian government’s CarbonNet Project presents a potential CCS solution for HESC project.
“The hydrogen gas is transported by truck to Australia’s first hydrogen liquefaction and loading terminal at the Port of Hastings.
“The hydrogen gas will be liquefied there and then loaded on to a specially designed marine carrier for shipment to Japan.
“After the pilot phase is completed, the results will be reviewed and detailed planning for the commercial phase will take place.”
In the commercial phase, the hydrogen will be used mainly for power generation and mobility such as hydrogen cars in Japan. However, some of the hydrogen could also be used domestically in Australia—Hirofumi says HESC is exploring a range of potential customers.
The process of creating hydrogen from coal on this project involves project partner J-Power creates hydrogen gas applying a drying process to the Latrobe Valley coal. It is then crushed into a fine powder and gasified under extremely high temperatures of 1500 degrees. The gas is then compressed to reduce its volume for transportation via truck, which will go to the hydrogen liquefaction facility in Hastings.
At the liquefaction facility, the hydrogen gas goes through several stages of heat exchangers, with liquefied nitrogen and cryogenic helium gas (as a refrigerant) producing cold energy to cool down the gas and produce liquefied hydrogen (LH2) at -235 degrees centigrade.
“In order to establish a full commercial scale project, effective scaling up of a LH2 storage tank, LH2 carrier ship and hydrogen liquefier is a key to the overall viability of HESC and make the project far most cost competitive,” Hirofumi explains.
The project is progressing well, with operations commencing at both sites, resulting in hydrogen gas from Latrobe Valley coal being produced and hydrogen gas being liquefied in Hastings.
“Over the coming months, operations at each of the Latrobe Valley and Hasting’s sites will continue and the pilot will yield data and insights that feed into the pathway to commercialisation,” Hirofumi says.
“Liquefied hydrogen will be stored in Hastings until shipments commence this year.
“The first shipment of liquefied hydrogen is likely to be later than anticipated due to several factors caused by COVID-19. The new arrival date is undetermined.”
But Hirofumi says Australia can still export more than 500kt of hydrogen to East Asia by 2030—worth an estimated $2.2 billion.
“A commercial HESC Project has the potential to create thousands of sustainable jobs in Gippsland and it would create a thriving hydrogen export industry with huge local economic benefits,” he says.
“Producing clean hydrogen with coal also provides a pathway of a different type—a viable roadmap for the Latrobe Valley’s energy workers looking to transition to a new industry—for themselves and their children.”
While hydrogen is relatively new in Australia, Hirofumi says he looks forward to seeing people from gas and mining industries for example applying their skills to this new energy source.
“I believe that most electricity could be generated from hydrogen in near future,” Hirofumi says.
