Seven Japanese cos team for CCS project in Tohoku

Itochu Corporation, Nippon Steel Corporation, Taiheiyo Cement Corporation, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Itochu Oil Exploration Co., Inpex Corporation, and Taisei Corporation on August 2 jointly announced their partnership in the Tohoku Region West Coast CCS initiative.

The initiative has been selected by the Japan Organisation for Metals and Energy Security (JOGMEC) to conduct a feasibility study on the Japanese advanced CCS project.

The project aims to address the need for carbon capture and storage (CCS) to achieve Japan's goals of carbon neutrality by 2050 and a 46% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 (compared to FY2013 levels), the companies said.

The seven companies will work together to conduct a comprehensive study, identifying technical challenges, commercial viability, and social acceptability of the entire CCS value chain. This study will focus on the separation, capture, ship transportation, and storage of CO₂ emitted by hard-to-abate industries in Japan. The companies plan to use ships to transport CO₂ separated and captured at specific plants of Nippon Steel and Taiheiyo Cement to suitable storage sites.

Nippon Steel and Taiheiyo Cement, both CO₂ emitting companies, have already set ambitious carbon reduction targets and consider CCS as a crucial technology to achieve carbon neutrality. Taiheiyo Cement is exploring technologies, including CO₂ separation and capture during cement production and carbon capture and utilization (CCU), to address the challenge of CO₂ emissions from raw materials.

The collaborative study by these seven companies will lay the groundwork for a concrete CCS value chain project with a target for implementation by 2030.