Toshiba Corporation has opened the ‘Toshiba Group Hydrogen Energy Research & Development Center’ (HRDC) at its Fuchu Complex in western Tokyo, Japan.
The new centre will concentrate on group-wide initiatives to realise a hydrogen economy, and will drive forward the development and demonstration of solutions integrating hydrogen-related energy technologies, said a statement.
Toshiba Group aims to increase the sales of hydrogen-related business to 100 billion yen ($839.7 million) by 2020, it said.
The group has essential technologies, including photovoltaic, wind, hydro and other renewable generation systems, water electrolysis systems and fuel cells, for achieving a hydrogen economy, a future where hydrogen is utilised as a low carbon clean fuel source.
It will integrate these technologies in end-to-end solutions, extending from production to utilisation of hydrogen.
Working towards the realisation of local energy production for local consumption, Toshiba Group will develop a practical energy supply system that uses renewable energy to power hydrogen-generating water electrolysis systems, and then uses fuel cells to convert that hydrogen to electricity as and when needed.
The system will be deployed in locations where electricity generation and transmission costs are high, such as isolated islands and remote places, so as to help cut costs and achieve a stable electricity supply.
The group also aims at establishing a hydrogen supply chain by 2025, which will allow large amounts of hydrogen, a source of carbon-free clean electricity, to be stored and supplied without any need for a transmission line to connect the overseas power generation source, and Japan, the power consumption point.
The HRDC will install a solid oxide electrolysis cell (SOEC) being developed as a New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization project and use it in combination with solar photovoltaic generation systems, fuel cells and other apparatus to carry out demonstration experiments, toward achieving practical use, said the statement.
The centre will also be an exhibition space for hydrogen-related technologies, in order to better understand customer needs, it added.
Source: Trade Arabia
