Hazer puts 300,000-tonne Japanese hydrogen project into study

Japanese hydrogen study puts scale on Hazer’s commercial agenda

Hazer Group Limited (ASX:HZR) is putting a potential 300,000-tonne-per-year hydrogen development on the table in Japan, where a paid study with an unnamed power and energy utility is assessing how methane pyrolysis could fit into the customer’s generation portfolio. The pre-feasibility work covers facilities producing either 30,000 or 300,000 tonnes per year and is expected to be completed by the end of 2026.

The study is one of the clearest commercial tests yet for the company’s technology following the announced in August. It does not amount to a final investment decision or a commitment to build a facility, but it gives Hazer and Kellogg Brown & Root LLC a live customer engagement against which to test the technology’s integration and economics.

KBR design package cuts estimated capital intensity

Hazer said its alliance with KBR has now used a commercial-scale Process Design Package as the technical and economic basis for multiple client engagements. The package is built around a 30,000-tonne-per-year hydrogen plant, with a design framework that can support single-train facilities of 10,000 to 50,000 tonnes per year and multi-train developments exceeding 100,000 tonnes.

More significantly for prospective customers, Hazer said the design process identified process and capital improvements that reduced estimated capital intensity by about 12% compared with previous company estimates. The is intended to reduce design risk and support proposals for feasibility studies, basic engineering and front-end engineering work. The commercial test now shifts from producing a design to converting customer discussions into studies, final investment decisions and deployed projects.

Whyalla remains a major project catalyst

Hazer continues to support M Resources, one of two final bidders for the Whyalla Steelworks, with a decision expected as early as the end of 2026. M Resources has proposed incorporating the Hazer Process into a redevelopment based on direct reduced iron and electric arc furnace technology, a potential route away from the site’s former coal-based blast furnace operation.

The opportunity is strategically important but remains contingent on the sale process and subsequent project decisions. Hazer pointed to A$2.4 billion in combined Australian and South Australian government commitments to make Whyalla a clean steel hub, with the initial transition expected to use natural gas before targeting hydrogen. The company is also pursuing steelmaking opportunities with POSCO in Korea and through its relationship with Mitsui in Japan.

Graphite advances beyond a hydrogen by-product

Hazer’s graphite work is developing on two tracks. Independent testing found the material could be thermally purified to more than 99.99%, allowing assessment for higher-value applications such as battery conductive agents and anodes. That assessment still requires physical processing and laboratory battery testing, while commercial qualification could take years.

In a separate program, testing against New South Wales heavy-duty pavement specifications found Hazer graphite could replace part of the petroleum-derived bitumen in asphalt while maintaining or improving key performance characteristics. The result broadens the potential market beyond battery materials, although the filing does not report commercial sales or offtake revenue from either application.

Cash runway depends on converting interest into revenue

Hazer recorded no customer receipts during the quarter and used A$2.334 million in operating cash, with a further A$28,000 in financing-related costs. Cash and cash equivalents fell from A$10.669 million to A$8.307 million at 30 September, while the company reported no debt or financing facilities.

Hazer’s pro-forma funding position was A$12.9 million, comprising the quarter-end cash, a A$2.3 million research and development tax refund received on 15 October, and A$2.3 million in government grant milestones that had not yet been earned at quarter-end. The company also expects possible project-level revenue and additional R&D incentive proceeds, but those amounts are not included in the pro-forma figure.

The next evidence point is therefore not another market-size estimate. It is whether the Japanese study, Whyalla process and wider KBR pipeline produce paid feasibility work, customer commitments or investment decisions before cash consumption again becomes the dominant story.