Japanese players and Woodside Energy join forces for CO2 capture and storage feasibility study

Japanese industry majors Sumitomo Corporation, JFE Steel Corporation, Sumitomo Osaka Cement, Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha (K LINE), and Australian energy giant Woodside Energy have signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to conduct a business feasibility study aimed at aggregating CO2 and transporting it to Australia for permanent storage.

The study will investigate the feasibility of collecting CO2 by small-sized vessels from emitters scattered in multiple areas in Setouchi and Shikoku regions. The emissions would be stored temporarily at a hub port in Japan before being transported to Australia by large-sized vessels for sequestration/storage.

The MoU was signed at a ceremony held on December 16t at the ASEAN-Japan Economic Co-Creation Forum in the presence of the Japanese Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry, Ken Saito.

“By collectively handling CO2 emitted from multiple regions, industries, and companies in the Setouchi and Shikoku regions, we aim to scale up and reduce costs, and work together to build a CCS value chain that would be difficult for individual companies to achieve,” the companies said in a joint statement.

The Japanese government has set a goal of implementing a policy to develop a business environment to initiate CCS projects by 2030 in its “Basic Policy for Realizing of GX”.

Sumitomo, JFE, SOC, K LINE, and Woodside intend to leverage each company’s knowledge and experiences to contribute to the realization of a carbon-neutral society through this feasibility study.

The companies have also joined forces with Toho Gas to conduct a feasibility study to establish a carbon capture and storage value chain between Australia and Japan.

The study will investigate the feasibility of establishing an entire CCS value chain among the four companies, whereby CO₂ emissions from various industries and companies in the Chubu region, Japan, are hoped to be captured/accumulated, and liquefied by using CO₂ separation and capture technology by using unutilized LNG cryogenic energy being developed by Toho Gas.

At the end of last year, K Line signed bareboat and time charter contracts with Northern Lights JV for two 7,500 m3 liquefied CO2 ships under construction in China.

The ships are slated for delivery in 2024 and they are intended for loading captured and liquefied CO2 from European emitters, including the Norcem Brevik and Hafslund Oslo Celsio carbon capture facilities, and transporting it to the Northern Lights receiving terminal in Øygarden in western Norway.