Australia’s Woodside Energy and six Japanese companies have agreed to study the feasibility of supplying ammonia to Japan’s power generation sector.

The scope of the project covers the shipment of ammonia derived from both green and blue hydrogen produced in Australia to Japanese utilities.

The Japanese companies joining the project are Jogmec, Marubeni, Hokuriku Electric Power, Kansai Electric Power, Tohoku Electric Power and Hokkaido Electric Power.

“Given existing proven technologies for the production, storage, and transportation of ammonia, it is expected to have early take-up as a lower-emission fuel,” the companies say in a joint statement.

Japan’s Sixth Strategic Energy Plan—published in October last year by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry—identifies ammonia as one of the most promising options for decarbonising the country’s power sector, with potential use in many existing plants.

Last year, Woodside, Jogmec, Marubeni, Hokuriku Electric, and Kansai Electric carried out an initial feasibility study on the ammonia supply chain. The study covered production from blue hydrogen and marine transport to Japan as well as marine fuel and power generation applications.

Earlier this year, Japanese energy company Jera approached more than 30 international companies with a request for interest in supplying of up to 500,000 t/yr of ammonia under a long-term deal starting in 2027 and running into the 2040s.

Jera, a joint venture between utilities Tokyo Electric Power and Chubu Electric Power, is trialling co-firing with ammonia at Japan’s largest coal-fired power plant at Hekinan on the Chita peninsula. It aims to burn a 20pc blend of ammonia at the station’s 1GW Unit 4 by the late 2020s.

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Author: Stuart Penson