May 16, 2025

A project team comprised of four organizations, Flat Field Co., Ltd.*1, Tokyo City University*2, Kanazawa Institute of Technology*3 and Oriental Consultants Co., Ltd.*4 ,as part of the "FY2024 Demonstration Project for Decarbonization of Heavy Duty Vehicles by Utilization of Hydrogen Internal Combustion Engine" (hereinafter “Project”) by the Ministry of the Environment Japan , has successfully developed a hydraulic excavator equipped with a "hydrogen engine" that uses hydrogen as its sole fuel （hereinafter “Excavator”) and completed demonstration tests at actual construction sites. Under the Project, with the 20-ton class "SH200-7" medium hydraulic excavator by the Sumitomo Construction Machinery Co., Ltd. (hereinafter “SCM”) *5 used as the base, parts such as pistons and cylinder heads were replaced with those that accommodate hydrogen single-fuel combustion to successfully modify a diesel engine into a hydrogen single-fuel combustion engine. Additionally, a hydrogen curdle (that groups together multiple gas cylinders) that can be attached to and detached from the rear part of the hydraulic excavator was produced. It allows the Excavator to be supplied hydrogen regularly at a variety of sites because the curdles can be filled with hydrogen at the place of a general high-pressure gas distributor, can be transported by a common truck, and can be attached/reattached on the Excavator by forklift or crane
In demonstration tests for the Excavator, its operation and performance were tested to verify if there were any issues upon using it to perform work as a hydraulic excavator. Rounding out the Project was the implementation of continuous running at a construction site on Port Island, Kobe City.


Sumitomo Heavy Industries, Ltd.*6 （hereinafter “SHI”) and SCM provided a hydraulic excavator before modification and offered technical advice to the Project. Towards achieving carbon neutrality in the future, the SHI Group will continue to search out possibilities for the utilization of hydrogen in construction machinery and cargo handling machines utilizing the knowledge acquired from this Project. For some time, the SCM has been pursuing the development of various kinds of new technology in order to realize a low-carbon society, and is selling ICT hydraulic excavators that can help reduce discharged CO2 through improved efficiency of the construction process as well as help do away with the shortage of skilled technicians. Additionally, SCM revealed some of those new technologies, including 7.5-ton small electric powered hydraulic excavators and the automatic running of asphalt pavers, at the International Construction & Survey Productivity Improvement EXPO (CSPI-EXPO) held in May 2023. Furthermore, SCM is also planning on revealing its new 13.5-ton electric powered hydraulic excavator technology at the 7th CSPI-EXPO to be held in June 2025 (CSPI-EXPO 2025).


*1: Flat Field Co., Ltd. (Head Office: Atsugi City, Kanagawa; Representative Director: Tomokazu Hirano)
*2: Tokyo City University (Headquarters: Setagaya-ku, Tokyo; President: Tomonari Yashiro)
*3: Kanazawa Institute of Technology (Headquarters: Nonoichi City, Ishikawa; President: Satoshi Osawa)
*4: Oriental Consultants Co., Ltd. (Head Office: Shibuya-ku, Tokyo; Representative Director and President: Hidenori Nozaki)
*5: Sumitomo Construction Machinery Co., Ltd. (Head Office: Shinagawa-ku, Tokyo; Representative Director, President and CEO: Isamu Mitsuhashi)
*6: Sumitomo Heavy Industries, Ltd. (Head Office: Shinagawa-ku, Tokyo; Representative Director, President and CEO: Shinji Shimomura)

*The Ministry of the Environment Japan conducted the development and demonstration of vehicles, etc. with the utilization of hydrogen internal combustion engines in order to increase alternatives for construction machinery and other vehicles, etc. for which the conversion to electric power is difficult. The Project implementation period is between FY2022 and FY2024.
Reference (Japanese language only): https://www.env.go.jp/content/000156389.pdf (Ministry of the Environment Japan website)
*For information on the SH200-7 medium hydraulic excavator, please see the below. (Japanese language only)
https://www.sumitomokenki.co.jp/excavator/sh200-7/