Page 11 - AsiaElec Week 05 2023

AsiaElec AMMONIA AsiaElec

JERA aiming to replace coal

power generation with ammonia

Carbon exports to Australia also on the table

JAPAN JAPAN’S largest electricity producer is in talks storage technology, a long time area of expertise
with California-based Chevron to enable the for America’s second largest energy firm.
eventual reduction of carbon emissions at power Mingst went on to point to concerns in Japan
plants in Japan and elsewhere in Asia. over nuclear power in the wake of the 2011, Fuk-
In a bid to achieve this end, low-carbon ushima disaster as one of the reasons JERA and
hydrogen produced by Chevron in Australia others have sought out Chevron to help meet
could be processed into ammonia to be used energy demands.
as fuel by JERA and other leading Asian energy “Nuclear power faces an uphill battle for fur-
producers. ther development, so that leaves customers in
The ongoing study promoting the export of Japan with fewer alternatives to gas- and coal-
ammonia from Australia and its use in Asia is fired plants,” he added.
scheduled to conclude later in the year. “For coal plants, they can burn ammonia
When complete, decisions will be taken on alongside coal and achieve significant carbon
the feasibility of such exports, initially to Japan, emissions reductions.”
where JERA produces around 30% of all electric- Problems do exist, however, in the moun-
ity consumed across the country. tainous terrain across much of Japan in that the
At present, coal and gas use makes up the nation’s geological makeup does not easily lend
bulk of energy produced by JERA. itself to carbon storage infrastructure, according
Speaking for Chevron, general manager for to experts.
hydrogen in the Asia-Pacific region Andrew “While Japan is not ideal for storage, Chev-
Mingst said: “At the core of our strategy is leverag- ron is exploring storage opportunities in
ing our existing capabilities, assets and customer other locations in (the) Asia-Pacific (region)
relationships. The work with JERA is a quintes- that may be candidates for CO2 export from
sential example of Chevron executing on this.” Japan,” Mingst went on to say, albeit offering
JERA is currently Chevron’s largest LNG cus- no immediate alternative sites for such stor-
tomer in Japan, as well as being the largest pur- age, although it is understood Chevron already
chaser of natural gas in the country. has a number of facilities in place in Western
He added that the JERA-Chevron relation- Australia capable of carbon storage should the
ship could even extend into carbon capture and need arise. ™

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