Latest News

JERA ends ammonia co-firing trial at coal power station with favorable outcomes

JERA, Japan's most significant power generator, said on Wednesday it has concluded a threemonth trial of cofiring 20% of ammonia with coal at its Hekinan thermal power station in main Japan with positive outcomes.

The energy, in addition to heavy equipment maker IHI, began the test at a 1-gigawatt (GW) system on April 1, in what it said was the world's first trial utilizing a big quantity of the gas at a significant business plant.

JERA said results were positive, verifying that nitrogen oxides levels were no higher than when firing coal alone, sulphur oxides were minimized by 20%, and generation of nitrous oxide, which has a strong greenhouse impact, was listed below the detection threshold.

The company, jointly-owned by Tokyo Electric Power and Chubu Electric Power, also verified that operability was equivalent to when firing coal alone, it said.

Based on the results, JERA will begin construction in July to enable business operation using large-volume fuel ammonia alternative at Hekinan power station.

JERA will completely assess the recent test's impact on the boiler and peripheral equipment, intending to develop technologies for wider use of ammonia as fuel in thermal power generation by March 2025.

Ammonia, a poisonous gas mainly produced from hydrogen stemmed from natural gas and nitrogen extracted from the air, does not release co2 when burned.

It is mainly used as a basic material for fertiliser and chemicals, but it can also act as a low-carbon fuel in power generation and marine bunker operations.

Japan aims to expand ammonia co-firing to decrease the climate impact of its power plants working on coal - the fossil fuel with the highest CO2 emissions.

Nevertheless, some environmentalists criticize the prepare for possibly extending the life expectancy of coal-fired power plants.

Energy analysts BloombergNEF have said ammonia-coal co-firing is too expensive for widespread use in Japan's power sector and that a coal plant running on approximately 50% ammonia would still discharge more CO2 than a gas plant.

(source: Reuters)