ITM PEM electrolyser installed at Tokyo Gas facility for e-methane production

A megawatt-class ITM Power PEM electrolyser has been installed at a Tokyo Gas facility in Japan for e-methane production.

Manufactured by ITM in the UK, the NEPTUNE electrolyser was shipped to Japan and has now been installed a Tokyo Gas’ Yokohama Techno Station under an ITM collaboration with Sumitomo Corporation.

Said to be the “first” deployment of a megawatt-class PEM electrolyser made overseas and imported to Japan, the companies have not confirmed the specific capacity of the system. However, ITM’s NEPTUNE systems are advertised as a “2MW plug and play electrolyser.”

Tokyo Gas plans to begin actual demonstration in June 2024 to verify operation modes, evaluate system performance and gain know-how on the operation of renewable energy sources, methanation devices and hydrogen utilisation equipment.

The Japanese gas provider has said it plans to use the electrolyser in e-methane production demonstrations. The synthetic gas is produced by combining green hydrogen and captured carbon dioxide (CO2).

Dennis Schulz, CEO of ITM Power, said the company was “keenly observing” Japan’s clean hydrogen developments, including the government’s contracts for difference (CfD) support scheme, which he said could see the nation become one of the most “fertile” countries for green hydrogen projects in the Asia-Pacific region.

Approved in December (2023), the CfD scheme is slated to incentive the production and use of low-carbon hydrogen. Expected to begin this year (2024), the scheme will guarantee a certain price for hydrogen over a 15 year period – expected to be in line with LNG.

Last June (2023), the Japanese Government revealed plans to invest over $100bn in hydrogen.

Read more: Japan plans $107bn of hydrogen investments under strategy revision