Mitsui, IHI Corporation (IHI) and The Kansai Electric Power Co., (Kansai) have signed a joint study to establish a hydrogen and ammonia supply chain in Osaka.
The four companies will study the development of bases for receiving, storing and supplying ammonia in the Osaka coastal industrial zone, and conduct surveys to expand the use of ammonia in the Kansai and Setouchi regions.
As energy sources that do not emit carbon dioxide (CO2) during combustion, hydrogen and ammonia could play a key role in achieving carbon neutrality.
Given the widespread availability of ammonia infrastructure, ammonia is expected to be used across a range of fields including as a fuel for power generation and for heat generation in the energy sector.
According to the partners, discussions have already begun with Kobe Steel, which is a potential candidate that could benefit from the utilisation of ammonia to reduce emissions in the electricity production process.
The announcement of the project comes just a day after wholesaler Eneos and Osaka Gas revealed that they would engage in the construction of a large e-methane facility -based on green hydrogen – in the Osaka Bay area.
The project will produce e-methane – the key component of city gas – by combining CO2 captured from factories with hydrogen.
Speaking to NHK, Miyagawa Tadashi, Vice President of Osaka Gas, said, “We aim to realise carbon-neutrality by 2050. This project is a significant effort to achieve that goal.”
The facility aims to produce enough methane to meet the annual demand of a quarter of a million households by 2030.
A separate partnership involving Tokyo Gas Company, Osaka Gas, Toho Gas Company, Mitsubishi Corp., and Sempra Infrastructure Partners LP (Sempra) will explore the export of e-methane from a 130,000 metric tonne per year facility in Texas or Louisiana in the US to Japan from 2030.
