A public offering of support targets has begun with a national fund totaling 2 trillion yen to support technological development toward the realization of a carbon-free society.
The first public offering was in the hydrogen field, which is expected to be the next-generation energy source, and it is expected that support targets will be decided by the end of August at the earliest.
Toward a carbon-free society, the national government has set up a fund totaling 2 trillion yen to support companies engaged in innovative technological development, and plans to openly solicit companies to be supported in a total of 18 fields.
As the first of these, open recruitment began on the 18th in the hydrogen field, which is expected to be the next-generation energy source.
The themes of research and development include enlarging the tank of a carrier that carries liquefied hydrogen, developing a combustor required for a turbine for thermal power generation using hydrogen as fuel, and developing a device that electrolyzes water to produce hydrogen. A total of up to 370 billion yen will be supported.
The public offering period is until July 1, and it is expected that the companies to be supported will be decided as early as mid-August.
The Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry will also make public offerings in fields such as offshore wind power generation and next-generation solar cells.