The facility to be erected at the group’s Kawasaki Works location in Kanagawa Prefecture is being backed by the Green Innovation Fund of Japan’s New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO).

A groundbreaking ceremony for the project due to start up in early 2024 was held at the end of last month.

To ensure that the input generated from renewable energy sources is compatible with fluctuating electrical power, Asahi Kasei said it will build a pilot plant comprising several electrolyzer modules to perform various trial operations.

The chemical group said the system features a changeable configuration with 1–4 water electrolysis modules of 0.8 MW. Utilizing multiple modules, the behavior of equipment under various conditions can be replicated, it added.

Asahi Kasei has defined hydrogen as a strategic growth field and one of its "10 Growth Gears" (GG10), businesses to lead the next phase of growth in fields of focus as part of its medium-term management plan 2024.

For the development of its then hydrogen-related business centered on the alkaline water electrolysis system, the Japanese player said it is leveraging the experience and expertise gained with the membrane process for chlor-alkali electrolysis.

Author: Dede Williams, Freelance Journalist