Establishing a model for large-scale hydrogen supply and transport via pipelines

Kawasaki Heavy Industries, announced  at the Romania–Japan Innovation Forum 2026 held in Tokyo, the signing of a memorandum of understanding  on a strategic partnership for onshore hydrogen gas transport with Transgaz, Romania’s state-controlled natural gas transmission system operator, which has extensive experience and expertise in natural gas pipelines. The MOU was signed in the presence of government officials from both Japan and Romania.

Under this strategic partnership, the companies will work together to realize the large-scale transport of hydrogen gas via onshore pipelines that Transgaz envisions for Central and Eastern Europe. By combining Transgaz’s pipeline experience and expertise with Kawasaki’s centrifugal hydrogen compressor technology, this collaboration will strengthen Romania’s role as an energy hub in Central and Eastern Europe and establish a model for the safe and stable supply and transport of hydrogen to neighboring countries.

As the first phase of this collaboration, Kawasaki plans to begin demonstration tests in Romania for the onshore transport of pure hydrogen gas using its centrifugal hydrogen compressor (KM Comp-H₂). This demonstration will be carried out as the “Romania / Hydrogen Supply Chain FS Demonstration Project: Centrifugal Hydrogen Compressor for Onshore Hydrogen Gas Transport,” *¹ which was selected to be part of the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry’s (METI’s) FY2024 Supplementary Budget “Future-Oriented Co-Creation with the Global South” program (Support for Ukraine’s Reconstruction and Strengthening Collaboration with Central and Eastern European Countries). This demonstration will be the world’s first initiative aimed at realizing large-scale hydrogen gas transport via pipelines.

Reducing hydrogen supply costs is essential to the widespread adoption of hydrogen energy worldwide. As one means of achieving this, expectations are growing for onshore pipelines capable of transporting large volumes of hydrogen efficiently. One of the key challenges to realizing such pipelines is the need for technology that can efficiently compress large volumes of pure hydrogen gas to high pressures within a limited space. Through this demonstration project, Kawasaki will leverage its expertise in centrifugal hydrogen compressors developed over the years to help realize efficient onshore hydrogen gas transportation.

Kawasaki aims to establish large-scale hydrogen gas transport via pipelines and, by linking this technology with its diverse range of hydrogen products (turbines, engines, carrier vessels, tanks, etc.), to build a hydrogen supply chain, thereby contributing to the realization of a carbon-neutral world.