A consortium of 11 Japanese companies led by Toyota Motor and JXTG Holdings will jointly construct some 80 hydrogen fueling stations nationwide by March 2022, bringing down construction costs by concentrating investment. Other partners are Nissan Motor, Honda Motor, Tokyo Gas, oil refiner Idemitsu Kosan, industrial gas maker Iwatani, trading house Toyota Tsusho, the Development Bank of Japan and others. They will invest in a joint company to be established in the spring.
The companies will draw up a construction plan in fiscal 2018 to nearly double Japan’s hydrogen stations in four years from 90 currently, focusing on major cities. Hydrogen stations are plagued by high construction costs at around 400 million yen to 500 million yen ($3.5 million to $4.4 million) each. Costs can be reduced by having the joint venture place orders for the necessary Equipment, rather than have each company act separately.
The consortium expects the venture to last 10 years.
