Suntory Holdings Ltd has announced that Yamanashi Prefecture and 10 companies participating in technological development have received a grant from the National Research and Development Agency, New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organisation’s (NEDO) Green Innovation Fund to conduct an energy conversion demonstration experiment.
The plant will pertain to the ‘development of energy demand conversion and usage technology at a large scale P2G*2 system for achieving carbon neutrality’ in order to decarbonise Suntory Holdings Ltd’s two facilities in the area, Suntory Minami Alps Hakushu Water Plant in Hokuto City, Yamanashi Prefecture, Japan, and Suntory Hakushu Distillery, Hokuto City. Accordingly, the production of green hydrogen and its use at the water plant began 11 October 2025.
With a capacity of 16 MW, the green hydrogen production facilities installed are among the largest in Japan and if operated 24 hours a day for 365 days a year, could produce 2200 tpy of hydrogen, thereby enabling a CO2 emission reduction of 16 000 t.
In terms of usage, highly-efficient low-NOx hydrogen boilers have been developed and the demonstration experiment on how part of the heat energy used at the water plant can be converted from fossil fuels (natural gas) to hydrogen will be implemented. Suntory will decarbonise the water plant and distillery while also promoting the increased utilisation of hydrogen in the region.
From now until the end of 2026, Suntory will demonstrate how this system procures power from renewable energies to produce green hydrogen that is in turn used for steam production. In conjunction with the introduction of large volumes of renewable energy in the future, we will also aim to deploy the aforementioned system to various regions and locations.
Furthermore, we have officially named the location of this demonstration project the 'Green Hydrogen Park – Hakushu –' with the installation of this system in Hakushu, Hokuto City, which has a lush natural environment and with the hope that it will gain widespread popularity and become a hub for providing green hydrogen in the future.
Yamanashi Prefecture and the 10 companies participating in technological development will continue to work closely together to achieve a carbon neutral society and develop green hydrogen production technology that utilises PEM water electrolysis systems while also proactively enlarging demand for hydrogen energy.