State-owned Development Bank of Japan (DBJ) has agreed to loan an undisclosed sum to Japan's largest thermal power generator Jera to support the company's energy transition plans.
Jera said it will receive a loan worth several tens of billions of yen (¥10bn = $72mn). The company aims to reduce the carbon emissions intensity of thermal power plants across the country by 20pc compared with the government's current reduction targets by 2030, using hydrogen and ammonia co-firing technology.
DBJ is providing financial support to Jera's decarbonisation target in line with Japan's efforts to achieve net-zero GHG emissions by 2050.
Jera has secured several financial commitments from domestic organisations, including state-controlled research and development institute Nedo, to develop technologies that use cleaner generation fuels. Jera is currently working with engineering firm IHI to begin demonstrations of a 20pc mixture of ammonia with coal at the 1,000MW No.4 unit at its Hekinan power complex. The two companies aim to start commercial operations using ammonia by the April 2023 to March 2024 fiscal year, a year earlier than originally scheduled.
