The world’s largest liquefied natural gas importer Japan’s Jera, its wholly owned subsidiary Jera Americas and Uniper have teamed up to jointly pursue LNG supply projects to help meet their respective short, medium and long-term demand.
Jera and Uniper are also developing green and blue ammonia export projects, in collaboration with US major ConocoPhillips, for initial production of 2 million tonnes per annum — with expansion potential — from the US Gulf Coast, including both green and blue clean ammonia production when carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) facilities are available
Both the LNG and clean ammonia initiatives are tied to deliveries to Jera’s ammonia and LNG portfolio, and to meet Uniper’s demand in Germany and Northwest Europe.
The proposed projects will contribute to reducing CO2 emissions in Japan, Germany and Europe by leveraging technology, resources and expertise, noted Jera.
Tokyo-headquartered Jera — the joint venture between Tokyo Electric Power Company and Chubu Electric Power Company — currently handles approximately 40 million tpa of LNG.
Going greener
Uniper and Jera are also collaborating to facilitate development of initial production of 2 million tpa of clean ammonia, with expansion potential of up to 8 million tpa, to accelerate the production and supply of zero-carbon fuels from the US for use in the US, Europe, Japan and greater Asia.
The proposed facility on the US Gulf Coast, developed by Jera Americas and ConocoPhillips, aims to produce hydrogen and convert it into clean ammonia to be supplied to Jera and Uniper under long-term sale and purchase agreements.
Europe is viewed as the primary initial export market, with Uniper targeting about 1 million tpa of green ammonia by the end of the decade.
A project engineering study will be completed by year-end to develop the first phase of this project which will assess green and blue hydrogen opportunities. The project is expected to start commercial operation in the late 2020s, including a complete certified CCS programme.
