The opening ceremony for the world's largest hydrogen production facility, the Fukushima Hydrogen Energy Research Field in Namie, Fukushima Prefecture was held on Saturday. The hydrogen produced there will be used as fuel for both the cauldron at the 2020 Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games and for the ceremonial relay torch.
The national New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO) and Kawasaki-based Toshiba Energy Systems & Solutions Corp. built the facility in the Tanashio district of the town which had its evacuation order from the nuclear disaster in the wake of 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake lifted three years ago. The facility will produce hydrogen by electrolyzing water with electricity generated by solar panels. Hydrogen has many useful applications, including being used in fuel cells, and the amount of hydrogen produced per day will be enough to power 150 households for a month. The total cost of the project was about 20 billion yen.
At the opening ceremony, Prime Minister Abe expressed hopes that the facility "will become a base of innovation for making a hydrogen society a reality." While Kazuhiro Yoshida, mayor of the town happily said, "The seeds planted to revive the local economy have bloomed into a field of flowers."
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