Japan, Belgium firms eye hydrogen demand in Kyushu
Trading house Itochu is joining forces with Japanese coke producer Nippon Coke & Engineering and Belgium shipping firm Compagnie Maritime Belge (CMB) to examine the possibility of developing a local hydrogen production and supply chain in northern Kyushu areas as part of efforts to realise a decarbonised society.
The project is targeted to utilise byproduct hydrogen from Nippon Coke's coke producing operations and CMB's hydrogen-powered ship engine technology, combined with Itochu's long-established business ties with steel mills and utilities, future potential users of hydrogen. The partners are planning to determine potential hydrogen demand in the northern Kyushu area, one of the country's major manufacturing areas, and launch a hydrogen supply chain sometime during the April 2023-March 2024 fiscal year. The project is subject to regulatory approvals.
Nippon Coke is operating its 2.1mn t/yr coke production plant at Kitakyushu, Fukuoka prefecture in the northern part of Kyushu island. It is expected to offer stable supply of hydrogen and meet local demand in the northern Kyushu area via a separation of hydrogen from byproduct gases from its coke production process.
Itochu said the company is aiming to develop hydrogen supply chain projects in other Japanese areas upon completion of the northern Kyushu project. It is also seeking to participate in hydrogen production projects overseas.
Itochu is jointly studying the feasibility of a Japan-Russia project to produce and export blue ammonia from Russia to Japan, while also participating in projects to develop supply infrastructure in Japan and Singapore to use ammonia as a marine fuel.
CMB plans to launch the 19 gross-tonne passenger ferry HydroBingo, which is equipped with a dual fuel hydrogen-diesel combustion engine, in Japan in April this year. The new ferry will be operating in Seto inland sea stretching between the main Honshu, Kyushu and Shikoku islands.
The Belgium firm has co-operated with Japanese shipbuilder Tsuneishi Facilities & Craft in development and construction of the HydroBingo, Japan's first hydrogen-fuelled passenger ferry. The ferry will have a capacity to carry 80 passengers and will be refuelled by a trailer via roll-on/roll-off hydrogen storage.
Japan plans to expand hydrogen use under its roadmap towards a 2050 decarbonisation goal. Potential demand for hydrogen is projected to hit 3mn t/yr in 2030 before rising to 20mn t/yr in 2050. More Japanese firms are seeking hydrogen business opportunities in Japan and overseas in the wake of a potential demand growth for the clean energy.
A group of Japanese firms has recently studied the potential hydrogen demand in central Japan's Chubu region, which is projected at 110,000 t/yr in 2030 for use in power generation, oil and petrochemical operations, as well as for fuelling fuel cell (FC) vehicles and in-house FC generators.
Related news posts
Australian new environment agency to speed up approvals
Australian new environment agency to speed up approvals
Sydney, 16 April (Argus) — The Australian federal government announced today it will introduce new legislation in the coming weeks to implement the second stage of its Nature Positive Plan, which includes setting up a national environment protection agency to speed up approval decisions. The planned Environment Protection Australia (EPA) will initially operate within the Department of Climate Change, Energy, Environment and Water until it transitions to become an independent statutory agency, with "strong new powers and penalties" to better enforce federal laws, the government said on 16 April. The EPA chief will be an independent statutory appointment, similar to the Australian federal police commissioner, so that "no government can interfere" with the new agency's enforcement work. The agency will be able to audit businesses to ensure they are compliant with environment approval conditions and issue environment protection orders to anyone breaking the law. Penalties will be increased, with courts able to impose fines of up to A$780mn ($504mn) or jail terms for up to seven years in cases of extremely serious intentional breaches of federal environment law. EPA will also be tasked with speeding up development decisions, including project assessments in areas such as renewable energy and critical minerals. Almost A$100mn will be allocated to optimise the approval processes, with its budget directed to support staff to assess project proposals and help businesses comply with the law. A new independent body Environment Information Australia (EIA) will also be created to provide environmental data to the government and the public through a public website. EIA will need to develop an online database giving businesses quicker access to data and helping EPA to make faster decisions. It will also need to publish state of environment reports every two years. The government said that an audit ordered by environment minister Tanya Plibersek last year found that around one in seven developments could be in breach of their offset conditions, when a business had not properly compensated for the impact a development was having on the environment, highlighting "the need to urgently strengthen enforcement". The planned new legislation is part of the federal government's reform of Australia's environmental laws including the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act. Resource project decisions are currently made by the environment minister, with the move to an independent agency will removing any perception of political interference in such decisions, the government said when it first announced the reforms in late 2022. The first stage of the reform was completed late last year with new laws passed to create the Nature Repair Market, with further stages expected to be implemented in the future, the government said. Tight timing Resources industry body the Chamber of Minerals and Energy of Western Australia (CMEWA) welcomed the announcement that the federal government will take a "staged approach" to the implementation of the reforms but noted the timing of EPA's implementation was "tight". "We continue to hold reservations about the proposed decision-making model and will continue to advocate for a model that balances ecologically sustainable development considerations and includes the [environment] minister as the decision maker," CMEWA chief executive Rebecca Tomkinson said. The Minerals Council of Australia (MCA) said that it had been advocating for the creation of EIA, whose future collated data "will provide greater certainty and reduced costs for both government and project proponents", which "may shave years off project development". But it was cautious about potential "unintended consequences" stemming from more bureaucracy. "Australia has one of the most comprehensive environmental approvals processes in the world and the MCA has been clear about the significant risks of duplicative, complex and uncertain approvals processes pose to the minerals sector, the broader economy and the environment if we do not get this right," it warned. By Juan Weik Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2024. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
Agriflex to supply phosphoric acid to Lithium Australia
Agriflex to supply phosphoric acid to Lithium Australia
Singapore, 16 April (Argus) — Australia-based phosphate rock producer Agriflex has agreed to supply high-quality phosphoric acid to Lithium Australia for its lithium-iron phosphate (LFP) or lithium manganese iron phosphate (LMFP) production. The firms have signed a non-binding initial agreement, which envisages Lithium Australia building a demonstration plant with an estimated capacity of 250 t/yr of LFP or LFMP, potentially in Queensland. The plant will require around 200-300 t/yr of phosphoric acid, Agriflex's parent company Centrex said on 16 April. Lithium Australia will move on to build a commercial plant with an estimated capacity of around 25,000 t/yr of LFP or LMFP if the demonstration plant is successful and following pre-qualification of cathode powders. The commercial plant will need 20,000-25,000 t/yr of phosphoric acid. No timelines were provided, except that the initial agreement will run for a period of 24 months. Agriflex will conduct a study to produce high-quality phosphoric acid with low impurity content in Queensland for supply to Lithium Australia. The two firms are committed to building a battery supply chain domestically in Australia, to provide global battery producers an alternative supply source for LFP and LFMP. By Huijun Yao Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2024. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
Tight supplies limit South Korea’s 1Q sulacid exports
Tight supplies limit South Korea’s 1Q sulacid exports
Singapore, 16 April (Argus) — South Korea exported 583,400t of sulphuric acid during January-March, 5pc less than a year earlier, according to GTT data, because of production issues and a scheduled turnaround. Sporadic production issues at LS Metals and Materials' Onsan smelter from last year's final quarter reduced export availability from South Korea, pushing buyers to source cargoes from alternative origins like Japan or China. The producer also carried out a scheduled month-long maintenance in March, further cutting production. Spot fob South Korea/Japan prices hovered between $5-13/t fob during this year's first quarter. This provided some much needed stability to prices compared with a year earlier, as high inventories at producers pushed prices into negative territory to a low of -$9/t fob on 23 February 2023. Shipments to India and Thailand fell by 45pc and 21pc from a year earlier to 116,000t and 88,100t respectively, while exports to Saudi Arabia also fell by 78pc to 4,800t. Shipments to Chile more than trebled from the previous year to 161,200t, with the bulk of the cargoes booked to cover annual contracts. Deliveries to mainly high-pressure acid leaching projects in Indonesia rose by 51pc to 76,800t, to supplement operating rates before the start-up of several sulphur burners. South Korea's sulphuric acid shipments in March rose by 5pc from a year earlier to 192,700t, following a round of spot buying from Indonesia and a shutdown at a sulphur burner in Vietnam. Exports to Indonesia in March more than trebled against last year to 39,000t, following a round of spot buying from buyers like stainless steel producer Tsingshan. Exports to Vietnam also increased by 23pc to 9,200t, with cargoes replacing lost supplies because of the closure of a sulphur burner. Exports to India and Thailand slipped by 54pc and 63pc to 37,400t and 13,900t respectively. By Deon Ngee South Korea sulphuric acid exports ('000t) Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2024. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
Ameropa taps Zacharias to serve as CEO
Ameropa taps Zacharias to serve as CEO
Houston, 15 April (Argus) — Swiss agribusiness Ameropa has tapped fertilizer subsidiary head Josh Zacharias to serve as chief executive starting today. Zacharia succeeds former chief executive William Dujardin, who resigned 30 November for personal reasons after nearly four years in the role. Zacharias was promoted from chief executive of Ameropa's subsidiary Azomures, a nitrogen fertilizer producer in Romania. Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2024. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
Business intelligence reports
Get concise, trustworthy and unbiased analysis of the latest trends and developments in oil and energy markets. These reports are specially created for decision makers who don’t have time to track markets day-by-day, minute-by-minute.
Learn more