Toward decarbonization, there is an accelerating movement to utilize ammonia, which does not emit carbon dioxide even when burned, for power generation.
Japanese power generation companies, JERA, etc. will collaborate with companies in the UAE = United Arab Emirates to produce and import ammonia and use it as fuel for domestic thermal power generation.
The Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry will act as an intermediary, and Japanese resource development company INPEX and thermal power generation company JERA will collaborate with UAE's Abu Dhabi National Oil Company.
On the 8th, Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry Kajiyama and the top of the state-owned oil company met online to confirm the cooperation of ammonia supply.
Specifically, INPEX will work with UAE's state-owned oil company to produce ammonia locally from natural gas.
We will import the ammonia into Japan and aim to use it as fuel by JERA, the largest thermal power generation company in Japan.
Ammonia does not emit carbon dioxide when burned, so expectations are rising as a new fuel for thermal power generation for decarbonization.
Since domestic production of ammonia alone cannot cover it, we plan to expand the use of UAE, which is rich in natural gas, as a fuel for stable power generation with the involvement of Japanese companies from the production stage.
Why pay attention to ammonia?
Behind the growing movement to utilize ammonia for power generation in Japan is the growing international criticism of thermal power generation, especially coal-fired power generation, which emits a large amount of carbon dioxide.
While the momentum for decarbonization is increasing, the introduction of renewable energy such as solar power is progressing in Japan, but there are also issues such as technical difficulty and high cost.
Coal-fired power still accounts for more than 30% of Japan's power generation, and electric power companies want to use ammonia as fuel to reduce carbon dioxide emissions as much as possible while utilizing the operating coal-fired power plants. I have an aim.
Furthermore, if the technology for ammonia power generation can be established, it may be possible to expand it to Asian countries that are highly dependent on coal-fired power generation.
On the other hand, the challenge is to secure supply.
When used as fuel for thermal power generation, a large amount of ammonia is required, so domestic production cannot cover it, and a stable supply network can be procured by forming cooperative relationships with countries that produce natural gas, which is the raw material. It will be necessary to build it.