Transgaz, Kawasaki Ink Hydrogen Cooperation Agreement

SUBSCRIBE SEARCH ARTICLES NEWS Kawasaki Heavy Industries and Transgaz signed a memorandum of understanding on energy cooperation that would see the Japanese company bring its hydrogen transmission technology into Europe. Image by Kittipong Jirasukhanont via iStock

Kawasaki Heavy Industries Ltd and SNTGN Transgaz SA have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on energy cooperation that would see the Japanese company bring its hydrogen transmission technology into Europe.

Romania's state-controlled natural gas transmission system operator expects the MoU to result in the establishment of hydrogen research centers that it said could be among the biggest in the world. A subsequent agreement after the study phase would bring the plans to a project that will deploy Kawasaki's new-generation centrifugal compressor, expected to substantially improve efficiency in hydrogen transmission by pipeline.

"Under this strategic partnership, the companies will work together to realize the large-scale transport of hydrogen gas via onshore pipelines that Transgaz envisions for Central and Eastern Europe", Kawasaki said in a press release.

As the first phase of the cooperation, Romania will host a demonstration campaign that Kawasaki said will be the world's first initiative to realize large-scale hydrogen gas transport via pipelines.

"Reducing hydrogen supply costs is essential to the widespread adoption of hydrogen energy worldwide", Kawasaki noted. "As one means of achieving this, expectations are growing for onshore pipelines capable of transporting large volumes of hydrogen efficiently.

"One of the key challenges to realizing such pipelines is the need for technology that can efficiently compress large volumes of pure hydrogen gas to high pressures within a limited space. Through this demonstration project, Kawasaki will leverage its expertise in centrifugal hydrogen compressors developed over the years to help realize efficient onshore hydrogen gas transportation".

Transgaz director-general Ion Sterian said, "The NTS [National Natural Gas Transmission System] development plan for the next 10 years includes projects worth over EUR 4.9 billion [around $5.5 billion] for hydrogen transmission by repurposing the natural gas transmission infrastructure to transport hydrogen blended with natural gas, in accordance with European regulations".

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Transgaz is already carrying out a pilot project for hydrogen injection into natural gas transmission pipelines to determine the implications of transporting a mixture of natural gas and hydrogen, Sterian said.

"The results expected from the operational and research phase [under the collaboration with Kawasaki] will contribute to substantiating industry standards and regulations, both nationally and internationally", Sterian said.

"We intend to become a gateway to EU for Kawasaki and the other companies we will be collaborating with, in order for them to set up production facilities in Romania" for Kawasaki's compressor technology, Sterian added.

The collaboration, agreed at the Romania-Japan Innovation Forum in Tokyo, is supported by both the Romanian and Japanese governments with a combined EUR 21 million, according to Sterian.

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