In Japan, technology majors IHI Corporation (IHI), JERA Co., Inc., (JERA) Marubeni Corporation (Marubeni), in cooperation with Australia-headed Woodside Energy Ltd., have jointly contracted with New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO) to participate in a feasibility study on the co-firing of ammonia in commercial thermal power plants which is an additional study scope under “Advanced Research on Technology for Ammonia Co-firing Thermal Power Generation”.
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According to a joint statement, the purpose of the project is to evaluate possible applications for the co-firing of ammonia in thermal power plants by conducting studies and evaluations on the economics for required facilities including ammonia production and transportation.
Ammonia can efficiently transport and store hydrogen at low cost and in addition to its role as an energy carrier, it can be directly used as fuel in thermal power generation. As ammonia does not emit carbon dioxide (CO2) at the point of combustion, it is expected to greatly benefit the overall reduction of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.
The study will conduct a technical study necessary for a trial for direct usage of ammonia as a fuel source for existing thermal power plants. In addition, it will evaluate the economics of equipment cost, operational cost, and cost for the production and transportation of ammonia, as well as evaluate other possible applications.
The project, the value of which has not been disclosed, will run from March 23, 2020, until February 28, 2021. Specifically:
- IHI will be responsible for the evaluation of the thermal efficiency of ammonia co-firing using numerical analysis, a study on ammonia storage and supply facilities, as well as ammonia co-firing burner related facilities, for the demonstration on commercial thermal power plants.
- JERA will identify and solve challenges related to the application of ammonia co-firing in commercial thermal power plants, conduct studies on specifications for ammonia storage, vaporizer, etc., and economic evaluation for ammonia cost, capital investment, etc.
- Marubeni will study and identify challenges related to ways to reduce the CO2 footprint of ammonia and improvement of transportation efficiency including the utilization of larger-sized vessels to reduce transportation cost.
- Woodside Energy will study and identify challenges related to realizing large-scale ammonia production plants and ways to reduce the ammonia production cost, etc.