Carbon Capture and Utilisation (CCUS)
Japan targets major CCS Hub at Mizushima Industrial Complex
The push puts Mizushima at the center of Japan’s drive to build commercially viable CCS infrastructure
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By ICN Bureau | August 24, 2026
Six major Japanese companies have signed an agreement with the Japan Organization for Metals and Energy Security (JOGMEC) to advance the design of a large-scale, ship-based carbon capture and storage (CCS) project at the Mizushima Industrial Complex in Kurashiki.
Sumitomo Corporation, Asahi Kasei Corporation, ENEOS Corporation, JFE Steel Corporation, Mitsubishi Gas Chemical Company, Inc. and Mitsubishi Chemical Corporation will conduct design and feasibility work covering CO₂ separation, capture, liquefaction, temporary storage and marine shipping.
The companies were selected by JOGMEC under a new FY2026 initiative aimed at cutting the cost of CCS by creating industrial clusters where companies can share CO₂ liquefaction, storage and shipping infrastructure.
The push puts Mizushima at the center of Japan’s drive to build commercially viable CCS infrastructure. The industrial complex is one of the country’s largest, bringing together major steel, chemical, automotive and energy operations — including industries where deep emissions cuts are difficult to achieve through electrification or renewable energy alone.
The six companies plan to use Mizushima’s concentrated industrial footprint to build a shared CCS value chain. By pooling infrastructure, the project aims to lower costs while shifting decarbonization efforts from individual companies to an entire industrial complex.
The scale is significant: the Mizushima Cluster is expected to ship approximately 3.43 million tons of liquefied CO₂ every year.
That would make it the largest CO₂ shipping volume among Japan’s CCS clusters currently under development, potentially turning Mizushima into a critical hub for the country’s wider commercial rollout of carbon capture and storage.
The project is part of Japan’s broader green transformation (GX) strategy and is designed to demonstrate how shared infrastructure can make CCS more economical for hard-to-abate industries.
