Kawasaki Heavy Industries has selected ABB to supply the distributed control system (DCS) for the Kawasaki LH2 Terminal in Ogishima, roughly 30 kilometers south of Tokyo. According to ABB, the site is the world's first facility designed to scale liquefied hydrogen supply from pilot projects to commercial level. The groundbreaking ceremony took place in November2025.
In January 2026, Kawasaki Heavy Industries and Japan Suiso Energy signed a contract to build the world’s largest liquefied hydrogen carrier with a capacity of 40,000 m3 (equals 32 million m3 gaseous hydrogen at norm conditions). The 250 meter long vessel is to be built at Kawasaki’s Sakaide Works (Sakaide City, Kagawa Prefecture). Kawasaki Heavy Industries built the first vessel for liquid hydrogen in 2021, the “Suiso Frontier”. It is able to carry 1.250 cubic meter of LH2. Loading, transporting and unloading was proven on a route between Australia and Japan in 2022.
The LH2 terminal is a central element of Japan's plan to build an international liquefied hydrogen supply chain. It is a unique approach – other countries rather go for hydrogen derivates or pipelines. Japan Suiso Energy acts as project operator. Funding comes from the New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO) via its Green Innovation Fund. The initiative is officially named the Liquefied Hydrogen Supply Chain Commercialization Demonstration project. Its demonstration phase is expected to be completed by 2030.
LH2 Storage tank with 50,000 cubic metres capacity
The terminal will include a liquefied hydrogen storage tank with a capacity of 50,000 cubic metres (40 million m3 gaseous H2 at norm conditions) Additional infrastructure covers cargo handling, liquefaction, hydrogen gas supply and lorry dispatch. Once operational, the facility is intended to receive, store and distribute imported liquefied hydrogen at commercial scale.
Liquefied hydrogen is considered a relevant option for transporting hydrogen over long distances. In liquid form, its volume is reduced to roughly 1/800 compared to the gaseous state. Japan is targeting an international hydrogen supply chain as part of its transition to a lower-carbon energy system.
ABB to deliver redundant automation and safety system
ABB's scope includes System 800xA integrated with a SIL 3 safety instrumented system (SIS). The setup is designed as a unified platform for process control, safety and plant-wide operational visibility. It also comprises redundant AC 800M controllers and server infrastructure for operations, data management and system availability.
According to ABB, the redundant architecture is intended to reduce operational complexity and support faster decision-making. It is also meant to improve availability across critical processes such as liquefaction, storage, loading, unloading and dispatch. The company states that this should ensure stable performance even when individual equipment is unavailable.
The Ogishima contract builds on ABB's prior involvement in the Hydrogen Energy Supply Chain (HESC) pilot led by the HySTRA consortium. In that project, ABB supplied the control and safety systems for the Hy touch Kobe receiving terminal, the first liquefied hydrogen import facility in Japan. The Kawasaki LH2 Terminal extends this collaboration from pilot to commercial scale.
