Japan Organization for Metals and Energy Security (JOGMEC) has signed a consignment contract with four local companies for engineering design work related to a carbon capture and storage (CCS) project.
The agreement was signed with ENEOS Corporation, JX Nippon Oil & Gas Exploration Corporation, Electric Power Development (J-POWER), and West Japan Carbon Dioxide Storage Survey, a joint venture set up by the three companies in February 2023 to promote exploration and evaluation for selecting CO2 storage candidate sites.
The Offshore Western Kyushu CCS project aims to conduct engineering design work for the CCS value chain, as well as exploratory drilling in the planned CO2 storage site, as part of the Japanese advanced CCS projects targeting the start of CO2 storage by FY2030.
The project is focused on capturing and storing approximately 1.7 million tons of CO2 per year , sourced from ENEOS’s oil refineries and J-POWER’s thermal power plants located in the Setouchi and Kyushu regions. The captured CO2 will be transported via ship and pipeline to offshore saline aquifers in Western Kyushu for permanent storage.
Following a feasibility study completed in FY2023, the project will now enter its next phase, which involves engineering design, exploratory drilling preparations, procurement of long lead items, and a detailed evaluation of storage potential.
According to JOGMEC, offshore saline aquifers off the coast of Western Kyushu have been identified as the key CO2 storage sites. This initiative aims to establish a full-scale CCS value chain by 2030, covering the separation, capture, transport, and storage of CO2 emissions.
To note, Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) has expressed its support for projects aimed at initiating CCS operations in Japan by 2030. As part of this effort, JOGMEC conducted a commissioned study “Survey on the Implementation of Advanced CCS Projects” in 2023, which focused on the feasibility of CO2 separation, capture, transportation, and storage for this project.
JOGMEC recently awarded a consignment contract to Inpex Corporation, Nippon Steel Corporation, and Kanto Natural Gas Development for the “basic engineering design for carbon capture and storage (CCS) value chain” and “assessment of CO2 storage potential, including exploratory drilling.” These companies will collaborate on the Metropolitan area CCS project under JOGMEC’s commission.
In recent years, multiple CCS agreements have been signed in Japan, one of them being a deal between Inpex and JERA to conduct a joint study to assess the feasibility of establishing a CCS value chain from Japan to Australia. The project would involve the capture of CO2 in Japan and its transportation to Australia for storage.