Cosmo Energy and Iwatani invest JPY 50bn in twin hydrogen plants at Chiba Refinery, restoring an 80t/d unit and building an 11.6t/d liquefied hydrogen plan
A capital and business alliance formed more than two years ago has now produced its first major spending commitment. Cosmo Energy Holdings Co., Ltd. and Iwatani Corporation announced on October 6, 2026, that they have taken the final investment decision to jointly advance a hydrogen business at Cosmo Oil Co., Ltd.'s Chiba Refinery in Ichihara City, Chiba Prefecture.
The decision covers two facilities: the restoration of an existing hydrogen production unit and the construction of a new liquefied hydrogen plant, both on refinery premises. The alliance underpinning the Project was concluded in April 2024, referenced in a press release dated April 23, 2024.
With the investment decision now in place, the collaboration between the two groups has moved from framework agreement to concrete capital investment, with a combined value of approximately USD 320 million across the two plants.
The restored facility is an idle hydrogen production unit located on the grounds of the Chiba Refinery. Once returned to service, it will have a production capacity equivalent to 80 tons per day and will be operated by Cosmo Oil Co., Ltd., with startup scheduled for 2030.
The investment required for the restoration amounts to approximately USD 130 million. Under the arrangement, Cosmo Oil will use hydrogen produced in its petroleum refining process and supply a portion of that output to the Iwatani Group.
The second facility, to be newly built on the same premises, is a liquefied hydrogen plant with a production capacity equivalent to 11.6 tons per day. It will be operated by Iwatani Industrial Gases Corporation and is likewise scheduled to begin operation in 2030. Investment in the new plant totals approximately USD 190 million.
The Iwatani Group will liquefy the hydrogen supplied by Cosmo Oil at the new plant and deliver it to domestic customers by tanker trucks. Once completed, the facility will become Iwatani's fourth liquefied hydrogen plant in Japan, a development the company says will help achieve stable hydrogen supply and meet increased demand.
Engineering, procurement, and construction for both facilities will be carried out by Cosmo Iwatani Hydrogen Engineering LLC, a joint venture established in November 2023 by Cosmo Engineering Co., Ltd. and Iwatani to collaborate in hydrogen-related project engineering.
According to the announcement, the Project represents the tangible realization of the results of the two companies' collaboration from the construction stage onward.
The companies identified two principal benefits from proceeding jointly rather than separately.
The first is competitive hydrogen supply through synergies between the two companies: by consolidating production capabilities and reducing production costs compared with what separate capital investments by each company would entail, the partners aim to establish a competitive hydrogen supply chain.
The second is a stronger foundation for stable refinery operations combined with enhanced adaptability to future change.
By securing a new hydrogen supply source, the companies say they will establish a reliable system for obtaining the hydrogen essential to refinery operations while ensuring hydrogen security and scalability in anticipation of future restructuring in the petrochemical industry and structural changes in the industrial complex.
Both companies stressed that hydrogen is indispensable to the refining of petroleum products and that securing a stable hydrogen supply strengthens the foundation for stable refinery operations and reliable fuel supply.
For the Cosmo Energy Group, the initiative means it can reliably produce and procure the hydrogen required in refining petroleum products, further reinforcing stable operations at the refinery. The companies also framed the decision in the context of energy security.
Amid renewed and increasing importance placed on energy security, they noted, securing hydrogen sources that are not affected by external factors is becoming ever more critical.
The announcement positions hydrogen as a clean energy source because it emits no CO2 during use.
Demand is expected to grow across a diverse range of applications, including mobility, power generation, and space exploration, as society moves toward carbon neutrality. In that transition, the companies describe establishing a stable and competitive hydrogen supply chain as essential to widespread adoption of the fuel.
To that end, the two groups will advance the Project aiming to strengthen the hydrogen business across both organizations by combining the Cosmo Energy Group's expertise in hydrogen production and handling at its refineries with the Iwatani Group's production, transportation, and storage network.
According to Iwatani, that network supplies approximately 70% of all hydrogen in Japan, excluding on-site and piped supply.
With the final investment decision made, the schedule is now fixed for both plants: the restored 80-ton-per-day hydrogen production unit operated by Cosmo Oil and the new 11.6-ton-per-day liquefied hydrogen facility operated by Iwatani Industrial Gases are both slated to begin operation in 2030 on the Chiba Refinery premises.
Cosmo Energy Group noted that the official language for its filings with the Tokyo Stock Exchange and Japanese authorities, and for communications with its shareholders, is Japanese, and that reference should be made to the original Japanese-language materials regarding the English versions of information posted on its website.
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