14 October 2026
ENEOS and Chiyoda scale up Direct MCH® Technology
Japanese energy company ENEOS Corporation announced a major step towards developing international green hydrogen supply chains by awarding Chiyoda Corporation an Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC) contract for a large-scale Direct Methylcyclohexane (Direct MCH®) electrosynthesis demonstration plant in Brisbane, Australia. The plant has now been completed and officially opened, with demonstration operations scheduled to begin in January 2027. It features a 1.2 MW-class electrolyser, approximately eight times larger than the system tested in 2023, and is designed to produce up to nine tonnes of MCH per day.
The project, commissioned by Japan’s New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO), will demonstrate ENEOS-developed technology that uses electricity to convert water and toluene directly into methylcyclohexane (MCH), a liquid organic hydrogen carrier (LOHC).
This innovative process enables renewable hydrogen to be chemically stored in a liquid that can be transported and handled using conventional liquid-fuel infrastructure, potentially reducing the cost and complexity of long-distance hydrogen transport. Unlike conventional MCH production, which requires separate hydrogen production and hydrogenation processes, Direct MCH® technology integrates these steps through electrochemical synthesis, offering opportunities to improve efficiency and reduce infrastructure requirements.