Companies

Test Facility for Thermal Power Generation Using Ammonia Unveiled

The Yomiuri Shimbun
A new fuel tank for ammonia at the JERA’s Hekinan Thermal Power Station in Hekinan, Aichi Prefecture, is seen Wednesday.

Jiji Press

11:43 JST, March 14, 2024

Hekinan, Aichi Pref. (Jiji Press)—Power generation company Jera Co. and engineering firm IHI Corp. on Wednesday unveiled to the press a test facility at a thermal power plant in Hekinan, Aichi Prefecture, central Japan, for burning coal mixed with ammonia to reduce carbon dioxide emissions.

The test will run from March 26 to June 19, and based on its results, the commercial use of coal-ammonia fuel is planned to begin in the late 2020s at the earliest.

Such a large-scale test at a thermal power plant will be the first in the world, according to the companies.

Ammonia is expected as a next-generation fuel as it does not emit carbon dioxide when burned.

Jera, equally owned by Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings Inc. and Chubu Electric Power Co., aims to replace fuels at all thermal power plants in Japan with ammonia or hydrogen by 2050.

“We want to establish relevant technology here to contribute to the decarbonization of thermal power generation in Japan and overseas,” said Katsuya Tanigawa, head of the Hekinan thermal plant.

The Japanese government has set a goal of making ammonia and hydrogen account for 1 pct of power sources by fiscal 2030.