Japanese Firm, Russian Institute to Produce Hydrogen Using Windo Power

Dec 6, 2010 - Associated Press - Energy Central

A Japanese company and a Russian institute will start a feasibility study soon on producing hydrogen through wind-power generation in Sakhalin in Russia's Far East for export to Japan.

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The Tokyo-based company, where hydrogen researcher Yasukazu Saito, honorary professor at the University of Tokyo, serves as a board member, and the Vladivostok-based Far Eastern Center for Strategic Research on Fuel and Energy Complex Development are expected to establish a joint venture for the project possibly by the middle of 2013.

Hydrogen demand is expected to rise in Japan with the spread of environmentally friendly fuel cells to power vehicles and household products. A fuel cell generates electricity through chemical reactions between hydrogen and oxygen without emitting carbon dioxide, a source of global warming.

The Japanese company and Russian institute signed a memorandum Oct. 19 on the feasibility study. They will aim at stable hydrogen supplies to Japan from neighboring Sakhalin.

Under the project, a wind power plant will be built in southern Sakhalin and hydrogen will be produced from water through electrolysis using power generated by the wind farm. The hydrogen will be converted into organic hydride, a hydrogen carrier, for shipment to Japan by tanker.

Annual hydrogen demand for fuel cells in Japan is estimated to reach 65.3 billion cubic meters in 2030, according to the Japan Atomic Energy Agency.