IHI Corp., Tokyo, which is spearheading the development of ammonia combustion technology, has announced three new initiatives so far this month. It plans to open an ammonia import terminal in Japan, start up a fuel ammonia project, and commence a feasibility study with two Malaysian partners.
IHI said it has begun developing a large ammonia receiving terminal to bolster ammonia and storage technologies and establish an infrastructure for imported ammonia. It hopes to complete the project by 2025. It has also begun developing large LNG-class ammonia storage tanks for the terminal.
IHI is one of Japan’s major LNG manufacturers. The company said it has engineered and constructed around a third of the nation’s LNG receiving terminals and half of its LNG storage tanks.
IHI has begun small-volume utilization of fuel ammonia at JERA’s Hekinan Thermal Station Unit 5. The purpose is to develop a co-firing burner to be used for large-volume (20 percent heating value) utilization at Unit 4. The project will run approximately four years to March 2025, and aims to achieve the 20 percent rate in fiscal 2024.
The Malaysian study runs through February 2022 and includes assessing technology for co-firing ammonia at coal power stations in Malaysia and evaluating technologies and economics across the entire supply chain, including to produce green ammonia from renewable energy sources and blue ammonia from natural gas.
Malaysian partners include PETRONAS Gas & New Energy Sdn. Bhd., a unit of Petroliam Nasional Bhd (PETRONAS), which is both an energy and an ammonia producer; and TNB Power Generation Sdn Bhd (TNB Genco), which owns and operates several power plants in Peninsular Malaysia. TNB is a wholly owned subsidiary of Tenaga Nasional Berhad (TNB), Malaysia’s biggest electricity utility.
IHI said Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade, and Industry (METI) has approved a grant for the Malaysian project under its program for feasibility studies on overseas deployment of high-quality infrastructure.