A large-scale green hydrogen and methylcyclohexane (MCH) production plant is being set up in Malaysia by ENEOS Corporation and Sumitomo Corporation. It was recently announced that these companies have awarded JGC Corporation the Front End Engineering Design (FFED) for the project.

ENEOS Corporation and Sumitomo Corporation are in collaboration with SEDC Energy and the recent decision on which company to award the FEED to was an excellent step forwards. The project that the three companies have developed, is expected to produce more than 90,000 tonnes of hydrogen every year. The MCH project has been designed to be a form of hydrogen transport, which is efficient and will be well suited for use within the marine transportation industry, specifically to sites located within Japan. It has been manufactured to use an estimated 90,000 tonnes of hydrogen for conversion to MCH, whilst simultaneously providing local users with 2,200 tonnes every year.

All three companies, are operated by the state government of Sarawak, Malaysia and their aim for this project is to create a Co2-free hydrogen supply chain. They plan to do this through the use of renewable sources that they obtain from hydroelectric power plants.

This project aligns with Malaysia’s Hydrogen Economy & Technology Roadmap (HETR) which Malaysia released in 2023. The predominant focus of this plan is to develop steady and firm regulatory conditions, as well as subsidies. The other element to this plan, is the idea of creating a ‘talent pool’ for the industry. This plan is why the three companies who own and are running the plant chose JGC Holdings to run the FEED project, as JGC Holdings is also involved in another large and successful hydrogen project. Alongside the MCH project, JGC Holdings is involved in an 8,000 ton per year hydrogen project, which is also based in Malaysia. The company signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Asahi Kasei and Gentari Hydrogen in November of 2023.

It was commented that, ‘JGC has been selected for the FEED study due to its “outstanding engineering technology and project execution capabilities.”’