ABB has been selected by Kawasaki Heavy Industries, Ltd. to supply its ABB Ability™ System 800xA® distributed control system for the Kawasaki LH2 Terminal in Ogishima, around 30 kilometres south of Tokyo. The facility is being developed as Japan’s first commercial-scale liquefied hydrogen terminal and is expected to play a key role in building the country’s international hydrogen supply chain.
The terminal is part of the Liquefied Hydrogen Supply Chain Commercialization Demonstration project, supported by Japan Suiso Energy, Ltd as project operator and the New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization under Japan’s Green Innovation Fund. The demonstration phase is expected to continue through 2030. The facility will include a 50,000-cubic-metre liquefied hydrogen storage tank along with equipment for cargo handling, liquefaction, hydrogen gas supply and lorry dispatch.
Once operational, the terminal will be designed to receive, store and distribute imported liquefied hydrogen safely and efficiently at commercial scale. ABB’s System 800xA will integrate process control, safety functions and operational data within a common platform, giving operators greater visibility across the facility and supporting faster decisions.
ABB will provide System 800xA integrated with a Safety Integrity Level 3 safety instrumented system. The solution will also include redundant AC 800M controllers and critical server infrastructure supporting system availability, data management and continuous operation. The integrated architecture is designed to reduce operational complexity and improve the availability of critical processes. It will support operations across the terminal, including liquefaction, storage, loading, unloading and dispatch.
“Japan’s hydrogen ambitions depend on infrastructure that can operate safely, reliably and efficiently at commercial scale,” said Tetsuo Miura, Vice President of ABB’s Energy Industries division in Japan. “By bringing automation control, safety and operational insight together, we are proud to support the operations at Kawasaki LH2 Terminal as Japan takes an important step toward building a future-ready hydrogen supply chain.”
Liquefied hydrogen can offer an efficient option for transporting hydrogen over long distances because its volume is reduced to approximately one-eight-hundredth of its gaseous state. This makes storage and transportation infrastructure an important part of developing international hydrogen supply networks.
ABB’s involvement in the Kawasaki project builds on its earlier work for the Hydrogen Energy Supply Chain pilot project. The company supplied control and safety systems for the Hy touch Kobe receiving terminal operated under the HySTRA initiative. The Kawasaki LH2 Terminal represents a further step toward commercial-scale hydrogen infrastructure. The project is intended to support the development of hydrogen as an energy carrier for Japan and potentially international markets.
ABB is a global technology company focused on electrification and automation. With more than 140 years of history and around 110,000 employees worldwide, ABB provides technologies designed to improve industrial efficiency, productivity and sustainability. Its Automation business serves process, hybrid and maritime industries with automation, electrification and digital solutions.
