Kawasaki to Start Demonstration Tests for “Suiso Platform” that Visualizes Hydrogen Distribution and Supports Hydrogen Trading

Kawasaki Heavy Industries, Ltd. announced today that it plans to start demonstration tests from April this year for its “Suiso*¹ Platform”, a digital management system that the company has been developing to enable centralized hydrogen distribution management and support hydrogen trading both domestically and internationally.

As the practical application of hydrogen supply and utilization moves forward with the goal of realizing a carbon neutral society, hydrogen trading is expected to increase on an international scale. However, in regard to actual hydrogen supply chain operations, hydrogen distribution is geographically and temporally extensive, including diversification of production sources and international transportation, and the players involved are diverse as well. As a result, the management of information on attributes such as sources of hydrogen production, distribution routes, emissions of greenhouse gases (GHG) including CO₂ in each process of the supply chain becomes highly complex.

Accordingly, a framework enabling digital management and visualization of the entire supply chain—from production to utilization—is essential in order to ensure hydrogen traceability.

Additionally, in future hydrogen trading, proving hydrogen is low-carbon will be highly important. Assessments and certifications of low-carbon hydrogen ensure transparency and reliability for hydrogen business operators to engage in low-carbon hydrogen trading. Moreover, they enable hydrogen users, including companies that are pursuing non-financial information assessments and disclosure, to confidently make use of hydrogen as a reliable means to decarbonize their businesses.

Based on consideration of the above, Kawasaki is building a digital platform and planning related services for hydrogen suppliers, business operators and hydrogen users with the goal of offering efficient centralized-management of data and information such as sources of hydrogen production, GHG emissions, and trading. These will ensure traceability for low-carbon hydrogen, visualize complex hydrogen distribution, and facilitate smooth hydrogen trading.

More specifically, Kawasaki plans to launch the following four services and expand its service offerings in the future in response to market needs.

•	Ensured traceability by strengthening chain of custody through the digital management of attribute information such as hydrogen locations, and carbon intensity*2
•	Assessment and management of GHG emissions and carbon intensity
•	Support for low-carbon hydrogen certification application
•	Support for hydrogen trading activities

Kawasaki has already completed the platform’s basic design. In order to verify the effectiveness of the services, the company plans to start from April this year demonstration tests for the “Geothermal origin Hydrogen SC Project in Oita”*³ undertaken by Obayashi Corporation. The tests will enable quicker identification of problems with the system as well as functional improvements, thus facilitating efficient development of the system’s detailed design. Kawasaki plans to complete design and development of the platform within 2025 followed by customer assessments and will launch for commercial use around 2028 by a wide range of industry players involved in hydrogen supply chains.

The services provided through the platform are intended to accelerate the establishment of a full-fledged hydrogen market environment and promote greater trading of low-carbon hydrogen, while also speeding up the wide-spread deployment of low-carbon hydrogen. In addition to pursuing technological development, demonstration and commercialization, Kawasaki is leading the effort to create a hydrogen-based society using digital technologies as well. Through these efforts, Kawasaki will continue to contribute to the social implementation of hydrogen and the achievement of carbon neutrality across the world.