INPEX hands out hydrogen/ammonia project deals to JGC and Air Liquide

With fresh contracts given to JGC Corporation and Air Liquide, Japan’s first demonstration project for the generation of low-carbon hydrogen and ammonia, owned and operated by INPEX Corporation, is progressing.

With regard to the development of ground facilities for the demonstration Kashiwazaki Clean Hydrogen/Ammonia Project, JGC Corporation has a contract with INPEX.

The project entails the engineering, procurement, construction, and commissioning (EPCC) of facilities for the pretreatment of natural gas, the production of hydrogen, the injection and capture of carbon, the storage and offloading of ammonia, the production of power, the provision of utilities, and the connection to the wells in the Hirai field area.

The facilities will be built near the INPEX-owned Higashi-Kashiwazaki gas field in Kashiwazaki City, Niigata prefecture, where the business plans to synthesis 700 tons of hydrogen annually from locally produced natural gas.

The manufacturing of ammonia will use a portion of the hydrogen as feedstock, while power production will use the remainder. A nearby depleted reservoir will be filled with CO2 using carbon dioxide capture, use, and storage (CCUS) methods during the manufacture of hydrogen and ammonia.

The lump-sum contract, according to JGC, is for an unknown figure, and construction is expected to be finished in August 2025.

The following project facilities will be under the control of the contract: facilities for natural gas pretreatment other than those for ammonia production, facilities for hydrogen production, facilities for carbon capture and injection, facilities for ammonia storage and offloading, facilities for power generation, facilities for utilities, and facilities connected to the wells (observation wells, production wells, and CO2 injection wells) in the Hirai field area.

While the hydrogen production facility will use the hydrogen production technology produced by Air Liquide, the carbon capture facility will use the high-pressure regenerative CO2 capture technology (HiPACT) created by JGC Corporation and the German integrated chemical company BASF SE.

When coupled with carbon capture technology, Autothermal Reforming (ATR) technology from Air Liquide is supposed to enable the efficient synthesis of significant amounts of low-carbon hydrogen and ammonia.