Japanese technology company Asahi Kasei is further accelerating its hydrogen business activities. Particularly, the company recently celebrated the official opening of its new hydrogen pilot plant in Kawasaki, Japan.

Operation start of this commercial-scale facility was in March 2024. The trial operation of four 0.8 MW modules is another milestone towards the realization of a commercial multi-module 100 MW-class alkaline water electrolysis system for green hydrogen production.

Accordingly, the hydrogen market will expand rapidly in the coming years. Particularly, the Hydrogen Council said cumulative global installed capacity of water electrolyzers will reach approximately 300GW by 2030. To meet this increasing demand, Asahi Kasei is currently developing the Aqualyzer™ alkaline water electrolyzer optimized for the production of green hydrogen.

To test this new system under realistic conditions in a multi-module setup, the company started constructing a pilot plant at its manufacturing site in Kawasaki. The new facility started operation in March 2024.

Multi-module approach for easy scale-up

Masami Takenaka, Lead Executive Officer at Asahi Kasei and responsible for the company’s hydrogen business, said the pilot facility is a milestone. In addition, Takenaka said, “We believe that successfully operating our equipment in this test facility will be a door opener for commercial large-scale multi-module alkaline water electrolyzers and eventually the realization of a hydrogen society.”

For the production of green hydrogen, electrolysis systems need to respond to fluctuating power supply from renewable energy sources such as wind or solar. In the pilot plant, four 0.8 MW Aqualyzer™ modules operate under realistic conditions. This includes operation during maintenance and low power supply during nighttime.

In addition, the equipment can simulate fluctuating power input from solar or wind power.

By utilizing the data obtained from these trials, Asahi Kasei will further optimize the equipment design, operation methods, and control technology of the electrolysis system. With its multi-module approach, Asahi Kasei aims to combine up to ten modules with a capacity of 10 MW each, enabling commercial large-scale electrolysis systems with a capacity of up to 100 MW.

Start of commercialization in 2025

Asahi Kasei’s hydrogen business leverages on its more than four decades of large-scale and long-term experience in the field of chlor-alkali electrolysis. Thus far, it is aiming for a total sales volume of ¥100 billion by 2030. Hence, the company plans to start commercial business activities for its alkaline water electrolyzers in 2025.

The pilot plant in Kawasaki is an important step toward achieving this goal, after the successful long-term tests of its 10 MW single-stack alkaline-water electrolysis system at the Fukushima Energy Research Field (FH2R)¹ in Namie, Fukushima, Japan.

The practical experience gained in Namie and the trial operation at the pilot plant in Kawasaki will further underpin Asahi Kasei’s market entry with large-scale and highly reliable multi-module alkaline water electrolysis equipment. This experience will also be leveraged for the joint feasibility study with Gentari and JGC for a 60 MW-class electrolyzer in Malaysia targeted for 2027, as announced in November 2023.

Construction and operation of the pilot plant is supported by the “Green Innovation Fund²” of Japan’s New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO).

16 May 2024