Japan's Mitsubishi Corp and Shell Plc aim to collaborate to produce green H₂ through the companies' European offshore wind power project.

The plan is expected to create 400,000 tons of green H₂, annually by 2030, accelerating the global push toward decarbonization. The hydrogen would be produced through wind power instead of natural gas in a bid to reduce the fuel's carbon footprint.

H₂ is used in heaters and as fertilizers, with recent moves to utilize it as fuel.

Dutch renewable energy firm Eneco, owned by Mitsubishi and Japan's Chubu Electric Power Co, has decided to invest 10% in a joint venture that includes Shell, Norway's Equinor and others, for the project, the sources said.

The plan will see the creation of offshore wind farms centered in the Netherlands that are capable of churning out around 4 MM kilowatts of electricity. It will use the generated power to create H₂, with the aim of producing 1 MMtpy by 2040, they added.

Mitsubishi is expected to invest a total of ¥2 T ($16.2 B) by fiscal 2030 in decarbonization industries, with approximately half to be spent on renewable energy.

The trading house is also looking to undertake the development of domestic offshore wind farms off the coasts of Akita and Chiba prefectures.