JERA begins ammonia co-firing demonstration at Hekinan

By Julian Atchison on April 08, 2024

Testing schedule for the ammonia co-firing demonstration at Hekinan power plant.

Click to learn more. Testing schedule for the ammonia co-firing demonstration at Hekinan power plant, which will run through June 2024. Source: JERA.

JERA and IHI announced that installation and testing of the ammonia fuel equipment is now complete, allowing the 20% ammonia co-firing trial to proceed. From April to June this year, 20% ammonia fuel will be co-fired in Unit 4 of the Hekinan power plant. The trial aims to confirm combustion characteristics of the ammonia-coal fuel blend observed in testing, observe the performance of the setup under fluctuating load conditions, monitor NOx and N2O emissions, and observe impacts on the fuel boilers and other equipment.

JERA has installed a 2000 cubic metre ammonia fuel tank onsite at Hekinan.

Click to learn more. JERA has installed a 2000 m3 ammonia fuel tank onsite at Hekinan to support the ammonia co-firing demonstration. Source: JERA.

IHI will use results of the demonstration to scale up co-firing ratios to 50%, and subsequently develop a 100% ammonia burner. Construction, installation and testing of the necessary equipment has been ongoing since October 2022, including the installation of a large-scale ammonia fuel tank. JERA has developed its own operational framework and safety measures (Japanese language) for the storage and use of ammonia onsite.

By March 2025, JERA and IHI aim to address any issues revealed during the demonstration and establish the technology as “mainstream”. Commercial co-firing at Hekinan is due to commence around this time.

JERA to join Exxon’s ammonia mega-project in Texas

Exxon Mobil is currently developing a large-scale CCS hydrogen production plant at its Baytown facility near Houston, Texas. The new facility will have an annual production capacity of 900,000 tons of hydrogen, feeding both Exxon’s neighboring petrochemicals complex and a new ammonia production plant. From 2028, more than one million tons per year of CCS ammonia will be produced.

Under the new agreement, JERA will explore part ownership of the project, as well of the offtake of 500,000 tons per year of ammonia, which will be shipped to Japan and used for co-firing. SK is already on board as an offtaker, with CCS ammonia from Baytown to be shipped to South Korea and used for co-firing.

Building world-scale projects for new markets requires supply, demand and supporting regulation to all come together in sync. We appreciate JERA’s leadership in helping advance the hydrogen economy and see this agreement as an important catalyst.

Dan Ammann, President of ExxonMobil Low Carbon Solutions in JERA’s official press release, 25 Mar 2024