Fuel Cell Market in Japan

Japan Fuel Cell Market Analysis

The Japan Fuel Cell Market is expected to register a CAGR of greater than 17% during the forecast period.

• Transportation sector is expected to witness significant growth in the forecast period, owing to various factors such as an increase in investments in hydrogen cars, and a rising number of fuel cell-based vehicles in the country.
• The increasing demand for electrical energy to sustain global development requires consistent heavy investments in energy-efficient and clean energy sources. This has helped the market for Japan fuel cell to grow significantly in recent and is expected to do so in the forecast period.
• Japan is investing heavily in fuel cell based Combined Heat and Power Systems and required infrastructure, due to aforementioned factors the country is expected to be at the forefront of fuel cell based CHP segment in forecast period. This is expected to help the market grow in forecast period, same as the trend being noticed in recent years.

Japan Fuel Cell Market Trends

Transportation Sector to Dominate the Market

• Transportation sector has accounted for more than half of the market share in 2018 and is expected to continue its dominance in the coming years. The focus on clean energy usage in the transportation sector is creating increased opportunities for fuel cell business
• Japan is expected to be pivotal in advancing the fuel cell electric vehicle technology, as Toyota and Hyundai-Kia claim to become the global leaders in fuel cell technology. Moreover, the phasing out of BEV incentives globally, from 2020, paralleled by government subsidies for fuel cell electric vehicles (FCEVs) in Asian countries, including China, Japan, and South Korea, is expected to open the floodgates to private sector investments and herald the start of a new era in fuel cell vehicle technology.
• There have been a massive increase in research and pilot testing of usage of fuel cells in transportation sector in order to increase efficiency and sustainability of fuel cell usage in vehicles.
• Japan had over 2800 fuel cell vehicles on road by end of 2018, the country has set a target of 40,000 fuel cell vehicles on road by 2020 and 80,000 by 2030.
• Therefore, with increase in fuel cell based vehicles, and phasing out of conventional fuel based vehicles, the market for fuel cell is expected to grow in forecast period.

Increased Use of Fuel Cell Based CHP to Supplement the Market Growth

• Japan has dominated the fuel cell based Combined Heat and Power systems sector growth in 2018 and is expected to continue its dominance in the coming years as well. The region is expected to seean unprecedented increase during the forecast period.
• Japan had implemented one of the most successful fuel cell commercialization programs, Ene-farm programme, in 2015. The program led to the deployment of over 300,000 fuel cell systems by the end of 2019. Japan has added nearly 50,000 units (roughly 35 MW) of residential micro-CHP fuel cell systems in 2018, under the Ene-farm programme.
• Government of Japan have set a target for 1 GW of larger fuel cell based systems by end of 2030. Companies like Hitachi Zosen Corporation have demonstrated various large power systems with over 54% of efficiency in a 4,000 hours continuous operation test conducted in 2017-2018.
• Therefore, the aforementioned factors are expected to drive the market in forecast period, similar to the trend witnessed in recent years.

Japan Fuel Cell Industry Overview

The Japan fuel cell market is partially fragmented with a number of small and big players. Some of the major companies are Ballard Power Systems Inc., Toshiba Fuel Cell Power Systems Corporation, Denso Corp, Mitsubishi Hitachi Power Systems Ltd, and Fuji Electric Co Ltd among others.

Japan Fuel Cell Market Leaders