SHIP DESCRIPTIONS
KICK START FOR NEW CLEAN ENERGY TRADE
Credit: HESC
Japan is a step ahead of the rest of the world with a soon-to-be-commissioned liquefied hydrogen carrier, writes David Tinsley
Forty years on from its pioneering role in delivering the first Asian-built LNG carrier, Kawasaki Heavy Industries (KHI) is in the vanguard of a new advance in gas shipping technology through the construction of a liquefied hydrogen (LH2) tanker. The 9,000dwt Suiso Frontier, by providing 1,250m3 of cryogenic cargo containment within a hull length of 116m, will serve as a test platform and demonstrator for a major scheme to transport Australian-produced hydrogen to Japan. The plan ultimately calls for a flotilla of LH2 carriers, fitted with four spherical tanks and comparable in size at 160,000m3 to the latest generation of LNG tankers, dedicated to maintaining the supply line. Many elements of the ship reflect KHI’s long experience in LNG carrier production and technology, as the Asian pioneer in the construction of such vessels, starting with the 129,000m3 Golar Spirit in 1981. It has maintained a presence in the LNGC market notwithstanding the intensity of the competition from South Korea and emergence of Chinese shipbuilding contenders. Attuned to the wider national aspirations and endeavours, and possessed of a wide range of cryogenic engineering competences besides those relevant to the marine field, KHI is part of an industrial consortium focused on technological developments aimed at building an energy supply chain that will enable economic and reliable sourcing of hydrogen in large volumes from Australia. The Hydrogen Energy Supply Chain Technology Research Association (HySTRA), in which KHI is partnered by the Iwatani Corp, Shell Japan, and Electric Power Development Co (J-Power), has the objective of ultimately making hydrogen as common a fuel source as petroleum and natural gas. Suiso Frontier has been built for the Hydrogen Energy Supply Chain (HESC) project which HySTRA will coordinate. The initiative is being promoted and supported by Japan’s
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8 Installing the liquefied hydrogen cargo tank in the Suiso Frontier
New Energy & Industrial Technological Development Organisation (NEDO). Non-polluting hydrogen is regarded as a fuel of the future and a potentially important element in Japan’s drive to achieve the country’s newly-minted target of ‘carbon neutrality’ by 2050. Hydrogen will be produced and liquefied in Australia. The raw material for the production will be brown coal mined in Victoria’s Latrobe Valley. As combustion of brown coal, or lignite, can be heavily polluting, coal processing at the hydrogen plant will utilise carbon capture technology and subsequent undersea storage. Suiso Frontier was launched at KHI’s Kobe yard last December and installation of the cargo tank was carried out at the company’s Harima works in March 2020, with the vessel returning to Kobe for the completion of piping systems and other outfitting. Handover is imminent, this autumn. Following operational tests in Japanese waters, ranging from tank cool-down to cargo handling at a pilot LH2 receiving terminal newly-built at Kobe, the ship is expected to make her first voyage to load in Australia during early 2021. Thereafter, she will undertake a round-trip every few months. The pilot phase is due to span one year. The decision as to whether or not to proceed to the commercial phase will be made once all reviews have been completed, with the target of full-scale operations in the 2030s. This could see a first contract for high-capacity LH2 carrier newbuilds in 2025-2026. KHI is also party to a Japanese-Australian consortium that has obtained funding from the Australian government and the State of Victoria to establish the gasification and gas refining facility in the Latrobe Valley, and a liquefaction plant and loading terminal for LH2 carriers at Hastings. LH2 transport poses major challenges, not least the extremely low carriage temperature of minus 253degC at atmospheric pressure, the wide flammability range and exceptionally high upper explosive level.
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