Japanese energy firm Jera has chosen chemicals giants Yara and CF Industries as potential suppliers for its planned coal-ammonia co-firing unit at its Hekinan thermal power plant.

Jera opened a call in February for low-carbon ammonia suppliers for Hekinan’s Unit 4, which will require 500,000t/yr of the fuel for co-firing at a 20/80 ratio with coal from 2027. The firm had concluded a co-firing pilot test in 2022 and plans to begin a further large-volume demonstration project at Hekinan from the end of 2023 to the beginning of 2024.

Jera specifies that ammonia provided for co-firing must be produced with 60pc lower carbon emissions than conventionally produced ammonia.

Under a memorandum of understanding signed in mid-January, Jera and CF will evaluate options for supply, including an equity investment to develop a greenfield blue ammonia facility in Louisiana and supplementary long-term offtake from CF’s existing Donaldsonville complex.

500,000t/yr – Estimated ammonia demand for co-firing at Hekinan Unit 4

CF is due to finish construction of a 20,000t/yr green ammonia project at Donaldsonville by 2024, as well as a CCS facility able to sequester 2mn t/yr of CO₂ from its six existing ammonia plants at the complex by 2025.

“Our leading ammonia production network and disciplined investments in clean energy initiatives have positioned CF Industries at the forefront of clean ammonia supply,” says CF CEO Tony Will. “We look forward to helping Jera and Japan meet its clean ammonia requirements, which represent the first significant volume of what we believe will be substantial global demand for clean ammonia as a clean energy source.”

Yara and Jera will also explore the joint development of a 1mn t/yr blue ammonia project on the US Gulf Coast. The firms have previously agreed in 2021 to collaborate on a blue ammonia facility at Yara’s Pilbara fertiliser plant.

In November 2022, Jera signed an agreement with shipping firms Nippon Yusen Kabushiki Kaisha and Mitsui OSK to jointly develop large-volume ammonia carriers and other elements of an ammonia supply chain.

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Author: Polly Martin