Australian LNG company Woodside Petroleum signed a deal with three Japanese LNG importing companies to study the export of carbon-neutral hydrogen, Woodside announced on Monday.
The consortium with Japanese companies JERA, Marubeni Corporation and IHI Corporation aims “to undertake a joint study examining the large-scale export of hydrogen as ammonia for use decarbonizing coal-fired power generation in Japan,” the company said in a statement.
Approved by Japan’s New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO), the study will examine the construction and operation of world-scale ammonia facilities and the optimization of supply chain costs, the statement added.
Woodside said it would investigate the transition from blue to green hydrogen for export.
Blue hydrogen is produced from gas using steam methane reforming, with related carbon emissions offset while green hydrogen is produced from renewable energy using electrolysis.
In both production processes, hydrogen is combined with nitrogen to form ammonia to enable it to be shipped as a liquid. Ammonia does not produce any on site carbon emissions when consumed in a power plant, the company explained.
Emphasizing the agreement was another step forward in Woodside’s exploration of the potential of hydrogen as a clean fuel of the future, Woodside CEO Peter Coleman said Japanese companies JERA, Marubeni, IHI and Woodside will jointly contribute to studying the application of hydrogen as an energy source, including in the form of ammonia.
“Woodside and its partners in Japan have forged new energy pathways before and we can do so again, as we expect by 2030 to see large-scale hydrogen production around the world and we intend to be part of that,' he said.
By Sibel Morrow
Anadolu Agency
energy@aa.com.tr