JERA Co. Inc., Tokyo, Japan’s largest electricity generator, is accelerating the schedule for co-firing one of its coal power plants with ammonia, according to a Bloomberg report.
JERA and IHI Corp., Tokyo, will start a demonstration project to co-fire a unit at its Hekinan Thermal Power Station with 20% fuel ammonia by the year ending March 2024, advancing the schedule by a year (GM May 28, 2021). The companies decided to accelerate the demonstration project because they have been able to install burners, tanks, pipes, and other equipment faster than they expected.
JERA, a joint venture between Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings and Chubu Electric Power Co., aims to be carbon neutral by 2050. The power producer is targeting having its coal power plants operate on 50% ammonia by the first half of the 2030s and shift to 100% of the carbon-free fuel by mid-century.
JERA also announced earlier in February that it will conduct an international competitive bid for ammonia procurement, as enormous volumes are expected to be needed for generating power.