In February, Nippon Steel & Sumikin Pipeline and Engineering (hereafter NSPE) signed a memorandum with the US firm Air Products regarding the construction of hydrogen filling stations in Japan. With this, the company has now entered the field of hydrogen infrastructure, which for them is a new business. Their end goal is to capture 30% of the business of constructing hydrogen stations in Japan.

In October of 2012 NSPE came into being along with merging of parents companies. They had been looking into entering the hydrogen infrastructure business as one new area of expansion after the merger. Air Products, on the other hand, has a track record of establishing 160 hydrogen stations in countries worldwide. They had been looking around for a partner as they endeavored to expand their market in Japan. For NSPE too, the overseas track record which Air Products boasts of, was a major aspect for them. Discussions began around the summer of last year, resulting in the present memorandum.

The division of the roles of the 2 companies according to the memorandum calls for Air Products to procure equipment for the station overseas. NSPE will make use of the pipeline technology which the company has accumulated in its LNG pipeline and plant business and handle the construction of the stations in Japan. Operation of the stations was not included in the memorandum.

The future target first of all calls for discussions with KHK in conjunction with Air Products regarding making it possible to use equipment from overseas in Japan. Air Products plans to supply KHK with data on safety and performance to obtain the type approval.

NPSE has avoided mentioning specific number of stations, but a spokesman stated enthusiastically, “We’ll be making every effort to become a major player regarding hydrogen stations in Japan. For the immediate future, we’ll be aiming at the construction of several stations this year, and in the long term we’d like to construct 30% of the stations.”