Kawasaki Heavy Industries Builds CO2-Capture Demo Facility at Kobe Works

Kawasaki Heavy Industries (KHI) successfully constructed a commercial-scale CO₂ capture and separation demonstration facility at Kobe Works in Kobe City, Japan. The facility will demonstrate the company’s proprietary technology, Kawasaki CO₂ Capture (KCC), within two separate units: direct air capture (DAC) to collect CO₂ from the atmosphere and post-combustion capture (PCC) to capture CO₂ from exhaust gas emitted by an in-house power plant.

DAC testing will attempt to validate capturing CO₂ from the atmosphere, while PCC testing will reduce CO₂ emissions from facilities burning fossil fuels. Through these demonstrations, KHI is progressing the technical verification required to upgrade and upscale its KCC technology and develop advanced CO₂-capture operations. The new facilities’ features include:

• DAC Facility: It features a modular design to handle the larger scale applications of future CO₂-capture operations and is among the largest DAC demonstration facilities in Japan.
• PCC Facility: The installed technology will capture low-concentration CO₂ exhaust gas emitted from a high-efficiency gas engine power plant at Kobe Works. This represents the first KCC application in a distributed natural gas-fired power plant, with additional deployments expected for on-site power generation at manufacturing facilities.

The KCC technology was originally developed for submarines and space stations and later reconfigured to separate and capture CO₂ from exhaust gases and the atmosphere. The energy-saving capture system works as follows: an amine adsorbent enables CO₂ separation at 60 °C, with unused heat utilized to improve energy efficiency and minimize environmental burden. Both facilities leverage KHI’s expertise obtained via ongoing and completed demonstration projects at coal-fired power stations in Maizuru, Japan and Wyoming, USA.

These technologies play a key role in the International Energy Agency’s Net-Zero by 2050 roadmap—PCC will provide immediate emissions reduction through existing infrastructure and DAC will capture residual emissions. Going forward, KHI will verify and improve the technology installed at each facility to capture higher CO₂ amounts. Once validated, KCC will promote decarbonization across regions and industries to achieve international net-zero targets.

Hydrogen Emissions Project

In August 2025, the Kansai Electric Power Co., BIPROGY, and KHI agreed to begin demonstration tests to calculate and record CO₂ emissions during hydrogen processes, from production to power supply, in a hydrogen co-firing application. The environmental attribute management tests will occur at the Himeji No. 2 Power Station, with goals to improve the value of low-carbon hydrogen and expand its usage.

It will deploy nuclear-derived low-carbon hydrogen from the Fukui Prefecture and renewably generated green hydrogen from the Yamanashi Prefecture. Testing will calculate and track the CO₂ emissions of hydrogen every 30 minutes, verifying whether the power derived from hydrogen co-firing can be attributed to low-carbon hydrogen or green hydrogen. Det Norske Veritas will ensure that the tracking method is compliant with international standards.

Through these demonstration tests, the partners aim to determine electricity origin and the time/location of hydrogen production for consumers. It will also build Japan’s hydrogen supply chain; help achieve carbon neutrality and encourage the joint investigation of commercialization.