Yokogawa Electric is expanding its role in the emerging hydrogen economy after receiving orders from Kawasaki Heavy Industries to supply integrated automation systems for a 40,000 m³ liquefied hydrogen carrier and two hydrogen-fueled vessels. The project highlights the growing application of industrial control and safety technologies in the transportation and utilization of hydrogen.

Integrated Automation for Liquefied Hydrogen

The large carrier will require sophisticated monitoring and control because liquefied hydrogen must be stored and transported under extremely low-temperature conditions.

Yokogawa’s automation system will integrate monitoring and control of onboard equipment while also providing emergency shutdown functions. This architecture is designed to help operators maintain safe and stable vessel operation while managing the demanding conditions associated with liquefied hydrogen.

The system can also support centralized visibility of onboard equipment, allowing crews to monitor operating conditions and respond more efficiently to abnormal situations.

Control and Safety for Hydrogen-Fueled Vessels

In addition to the liquefied hydrogen carrier, Yokogawa will provide an integrated control system for the Marine Hydrogen Fuel System (MHFS) installed on two hydrogen-fueled vessels.

An MHFS includes liquefied hydrogen storage tanks and fuel supply equipment. These systems require coordinated control of storage, fuel delivery, monitoring and safety functions.

Integrating these functions into a unified automation architecture can help reduce operational complexity while providing operators with more comprehensive information about the hydrogen fuel system.

Supporting a New Hydrogen Supply Chain

The development is part of broader efforts to establish a commercial liquefied hydrogen supply chain.

Large-scale hydrogen transportation requires more than specialized vessels. It also depends on reliable control systems, safety instrumentation, storage technologies, monitoring equipment and digital infrastructure.

Yokogawa’s experience in LNG transportation and industrial process automation provides a technological foundation for applying control and safety technologies to liquefied hydrogen applications.

The company’s recent activities also extend beyond marine transportation. In September 2026, Yokogawa signed a memorandum of understanding with Slovenia’s electricity transmission operator ELES and gas transmission operator Plinovodi to explore a nationwide hydrogen ecosystem. The initiative includes digital solutions for coordinating electricity, gas and hydrogen infrastructure.

Digital Automation for Energy Infrastructure

The hydrogen projects demonstrate how industrial automation is expanding beyond traditional factories and process plants.

Future hydrogen infrastructure may involve production facilities, storage terminals, pipelines, transportation systems, power networks and refueling infrastructure. These assets will need to exchange operational information and coordinate their activities.

This creates opportunities for DCS, SCADA, safety systems, industrial networking and digital asset management technologies.

For automation engineers, the integration of these systems is particularly important because hydrogen facilities require continuous monitoring of temperature, pressure, flow and equipment status.

Safety Remains a Central Requirement

Hydrogen’s physical properties create specific requirements for industrial control and safety engineering.

Automation systems need to provide operators with timely information about equipment conditions while safety functions must be capable of responding rapidly to abnormal operating situations.

Yokogawa’s approach combines control, monitoring and emergency shutdown capabilities rather than treating these functions as completely independent systems.

This type of integrated architecture can provide a foundation for reliable operation across the lifecycle of hydrogen transportation equipment.

Outlook for Hydrogen Automation

Yokogawa’s latest marine automation orders demonstrate the expanding role of control technology in the hydrogen supply chain.

As hydrogen projects move from demonstration toward larger commercial applications, automation will become increasingly important for safe transportation, efficient storage, process monitoring and equipment management.

The combination of integrated control systems, safety instrumentation and digital technologies could become an important part of future hydrogen infrastructure, while also creating new applications for DCS and industrial automation technologies.