MHI has successfully combustion-tested its ammonia single-fuel burners. The tests confirmed that the burners are capable of complete and stable combustion, producing reduced NOx emissions relative to coal firing. The test will now be run at a larger scale to simulate actual operations.
Korea-based Doosan Enerbility and Indonesia Power will partner up to deploy ammonia co-firing technology at the Suralaya Power Plant in Java. The newly-commissioned Jawa 9 & 10 generating units will be converted, with studies into a full ammonia supply chain and technical requirements to be completed by 2027 - the same year Doosan is targeting for commercialisation of its co-firing burner technology.
Exxon Mobil is planning a CCS hydrogen & ammonia production facility at its existing complex in Baytown, Texas, with operations to begin in 2027-8. This week, Korea-based SK Inc. Materials announced they would act as off taker for the CCS ammonia, which will be imported to Korea for use in coal co-combustion.
Ammonia co-firing trials will shortly commence in the Philippines, Thailand and Chile, with an initial focus on co-firing rates of 20-30% ammonia. Japanese energy giants JERA and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries continue to be significant players in the co-firing space.
JERA has signed MoUs this week with two significant ammonia producers, potentially securing the supply of one million tonnes of clean ammonia fuel to Japan each year from 2027. JERA has signed exploratory agreements for 500,000 tonnes of clean ammonia fuel each with CF Industries and Yara Clean Ammonia, and will also explore investment options in greenfield mega-projects on the US Gulf Coast.
Joint venture SK Plug Hyverse has agreed to deploy its Korean-manufactured PEM electrolysers overseas, and then supply Korea South-East Power (KOEN) with renewable hydrogen & ammonia imports for co-firing at natural gas and coal power plants. In Malaysia, power utility Tenaga Nasional Bhd, IHI Power Systems and Petronas announced they have successfully conducted 60% ammonia co-combustion trials. And in Singapore, Jurong Port, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries and JERA will conduct a joint study on Jurong Island, where a 60MW, combined-cycle gas turbine will be fueled by 100% ammonia to produce zero-carbon electricity.
Doosan, KEPCO and Samsung will join forces to jointly develop a “dual-fuel green ammonia” power generation model that can be rolled out to 1 GW power plants in South Korea. In the trio, Doosan is charged with the development of ammonia dual-fuel boilers, indicating that coal co-firing is the target of the model rollout. As part of a different agreement, Doosan is also involved in ammonia-hydrogen gas turbine development with POSCO and KEPCO.