NYK pens ammonia transport deal with Mitsui & Co.

Japanese shipping company NYK has entered into a time charter contract with compatriot Mitsui & Co., Ltd. for the transportation of ammonia.

NYK revealed that the deal was signed in October and that it would use its Panama-flagged LPG carrier, the Berlian Ekuator, as the key vessel for the shipments.

“Through this agreement, NYK will contribute to the global energy transition by accumulating practical knowledge on the handling of ammonia and developing a marine transportation system for the future expansion of the fuel ammonia market,” NYK said.

The vessel will transport fuel ammonia to be used by JERA Co., in the ‘world’s first large-scale fuel-conversion’ demonstration test, which will be conducted at unit 4 of JERA’s Hekinan Thermal Power Station.

Namely, JERA’s Hekinan Thermal Power Station Unit 4, with the power output of 1 million kW, plans to demonstrate a test of 20% fuel substitution with ammonia in fiscal 2023.

The endeavor has been described as the world’s first demonstration project to use a large amount of fuel ammonia in a large commercial coal-fired power plant. The project is subsidized by Japan’s New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO).

In June, Mitsui and JERA signed an ammonia sales and purchase agreement to be used in the demonstration test.

The demonstration project aims to establish ammonia co-firing technology by co-firing coal and ammonia at a large-scale commercial coal-fired power plant and evaluating both boiler heat absorption and environmental impact characteristics such as exhaust gases.

The project is scheduled to run for approximately 4 years from June 2021 to March 2025.