The factsheet was produced by adelphi in cooperation with the PtX Hub. Financial support was provided by the European Union’s Partnership Instrument and the German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, and Nuclear Safety (BMU) in the context of the International Climate Initiative (IKI). The contents of this publication are the sole responsibility of adelphi and do not necessarily reflect the views of the funders. 

Hydrogen Factsheet – Japan

Executive Summary 

Japan is leading on hydrogen, with a particular focus on its application in transport, heating and energy production. In many of these sectors, Japan is already a technological leader. The country furthermore aims to strengthen its leadership in these sectors through measures laid out in its hydrogen and green growth strategies.  

At the same time, Japan is highly dependent on energy imports and has very few domestic energy resources, both fossil and renewable. However, it does possess large theoretical potential for floating offshore wind expansion, which the Japanese government aims to tap into in order to allow for an accelerated energy transition. Nevertheless, Japan will – as many EU member states – need to become a major importer of hydrogen to fuel its transition to net zero by 2050. The country has already started to establish international partnerships and is leading with regards to international supply chain development. Two hydrogen supply chain demonstration projects are already operational, one importing chemically transformed hydrogen from Brunei and one importing liquified hydrogen from Australia, using the world’s first liquified hydrogen carrier.  

Currently, both these international supply chain projects are focused on hydrogen production from fossil fuels – with CCS not yet being implemented. In the medium run, Japan however plans to rely heavily on CCS and CCU technologies for the decarbonization of its hydrogen production and economy. In the long run, green hydrogen is furthermore expected to play a major role and Japan is also investing in related demonstration projects, such as the Fukushima Hydrogen Energy Research Field, whose 10 MW electrolyser was the world’s largest at the time of its opening in 2020.  

Even though Japan and the EU are competing with regard to some hydrogen technologies and are currently pursuing different energy and climate policies with a differing emphasis on green hydrogen, Japan can be a crucial long-term partner for the EU. Japan is not only one of the leading countries on the development of hydrogen technologies, notably fuel cells, it will also face similar supply chain issues as the EU and also pursues a long-term net zero target, even though Japan focuses strongly on carbon capture and will, according to current plans, still use a non-marginal share of fossil fuels for electricity generation by 2050. Therefore, cooperation with Japan could be especially promising with regards to the ramp-up of an international hydrogen market, the establishment of international supply chains to third countries, which could supply both Japan and the EU, as well as to topics regarding certification and regulation of both hydrogen and related technologies.

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