The Marubeni-led technical study – running through to the end for February 2021 – entails a series of trials for direct usage of ammonia as a fuel in JERA’s coal- and gas-fired power plant.
In the context of the feasibility study and during technical trials, researchers from Marubeni and IHI Corp will be also scrutinizing the economics of equipment cost, operational expenses as well as the cost for producing and transporting ammonia to the power stations.
Gov’ support NEDO research
Marubeni and IHI Corp’s efforts on ammonia co-firing are in line with Japanese government’s aspirations to implement hydrogen-based energy projects. Dubbed NEDO, the research project seeks to develop multi-burner ammonia co-firing technology for pulverized coal boilers, which can later be amended for use in gas-fired power units.
JERA is looking to find out the necessary capital investment to retrofit its existing plants with the novel ammonia co-firing technology, once it is ready for commercialization. To this end, it is allowing researchers to carry out tests and trial runs at some of its thermal power plants.
Australia-based Woodside Energy is also participating in the study, striving to identify challenges related to realizing large-scale ammonia production lines.