First Selection of Priority Regions for Promoting the Deployment of Fuel-Cell Commercial Vehicles

1. Outline of Priority Regions

As Japan works to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050, the transportation sector is one of the most critical areas where decarbonization efforts should be accelerated, as it accounts for approximately 20% of Japan's CO2 emissions.

While various options exist for decarbonizing the transportation sector, hydrogen fuel-cell vehicles have the advantage of a short refueling time and long cruising range, and are expected to be used in fuel-cell commercial vehicles such as heavy trucks, light trucks, and buses by 2030. On the other hand, there are challenges regarding the deployment of fuel-cell commercial vehicles that are difficult to foresee in terms of both supply and demand, and therefore cross-industry discussions are needed to move forward with the resolution of such challenges.

From this viewpoint, the public and private sectors will collaborate based on their discussions to create initial demand for fuel-cell commercial vehicles and stimulate demand in the surrounding regions, aimed at expanding hydrogen utilization in the transportation sector. These regions are designated as Priority Regions for Promoting the Deployment of Fuel-Cell Commercial Vehicles (hereinafter referred to as the Priority Regions). The first call for Priority Regions has been made and the regions selected.

2. Additional government support

The price of hydrogen for fuel-cell vehicles has been reduced by the national and local governments through subsidies to hydrogen station operators for a portion of their costs, but the cost of the fuel itself, in particular, is higher than that of diesel due to higher hydrogen procurement costs. Private operators are currently bearing the difference.

For this reason, in the future, the government will expand support for fixed and variable costs, such as additional support of approximately 700 yen per kilogram (equivalent to about 3/4 of the difference) for the difference between diesel and hydrogen fuel costs at hydrogen stations in local governments that are the core of the Priority Regions. Moreover, the government will encourage local governments to provide their own support as well to significantly reduce the burden on private operators.

3. Selection results of the Priority Regions

In the first call for Priority Regions, five were selected with the following six local governments as the core.

• Tohoku Priority Region (core local government: Fukushima Prefecture)
• Kanto Priority Region (core local governments: Tokyo Metropolis and Kanagawa Prefecture)
• Chubu Priority Region (core local government: Aichi Prefecture)
• Kinki Priority Region (core local government: Hyogo Prefecture)
• Kyushu Priority Region (core local government: Fukuoka Prefecture

Related Links (in Japanese)

• Public Call for Priority Areas for Fuel-Cell Commercial Vehicles
• Mobility Hydrogen Public-Private Conference

Divisions in Charge

• Automobile Division, Manufacturing Industries Bureau

• Hydrogen and Ammonia Division, Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Department, Agency for Natural Resources and Energy