Weekly Japanese Industry and Policy News (Mar. 24-Mar. 30, 2023)

The EU-Japan Centre is pleased to start a new weekly service by publishing brief summary of the latest information from the Japanese governmental organizations & private companies/organizations. A couple of minutes reading to be informed about what is happening in Japan's policy, economy, EU-Japan relations, and innovation.

*Information is deemed correct at the time of release. 

CHITOSE GROUP starts operation of world's largest 5ha algae production facility
Chitose Group, a group of bio-venture companies, announced on March 20 that the world's largest 5ha algae production facility "CHITOSE Carbon Capture Central" (C4 / Sarawak, Malaysia) has been completed and started operation. C4 aims to produce 350 tons of algae biomass (dry weight) per year while fixing 700 tons of CO2 per year.

C4 has started a long-term, large-scale algae production demonstration test for the production of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF), etc., using CO2 contained in the exhaust gas emitted from the adjacent thermal power plant. According to the company, it is the world's largest demonstration of algae production using CO2 in industrial exhaust gas. In the future, it will proceed with the development of a wide range of applications, such as chemical products, cosmetics, fuel, feed, and food, using the algae biomass produced at this facility as a raw material.

The Chitose Group is planning to expand the scale of algae production to 2,000 ha, and is proceeding with fund procurement for this plan. For algae production on a scale of 2,000 ha, it aims to establish a system that can supply 140,000 tons (dry weight) of algae biomass per year at a production cost of 300 JP￥/kg or less as raw material for products. In the future, it aims to produce 700 million tons (dry weight) of algae per year on a scale of 10 million ha at a production cost of 60 JP￥/kg or less.

CHITOSE Group website:
https://chitose-bio.com/news/5155/

JERA acquires European offshore wind power company Parkwind

JERA announced on March 22 that it would acquire Parkwind, a major Belgian offshore wind farm operator, through its subsidiary. The purchase price is expected to be approximately €1.55 billion (approximately JP￥ 220 billion).

Parkwind has extensive experience in the development, construction and operation of offshore wind power projects in Europe. Currently, there are four offshore wind power projects in Belgium (total power generation capacity: 771,000 kW; company's share of capacity: 420,000 kW) and in Germany, an offshore wind power generation project (generating capacity: 257,000 kW; company's share of capacity: 180,000 kW) is working on. In addition, it owns a total capacity of 4,526,000 kW (the company's share) as an offshore wind power project under development mainly in Europe.

Through this acquisition, JERA hopes to utilize Parkwind's know-how and knowledge in the offshore wind power generation business in Europe to promote projects in which it is already participating and acquire new business development.

JERA website:
https://www.jera.co.jp/english/information/20230322_1109

METI formulates research and development plan for "Decarbonization of Thermal Processes in the Manufacturing Field"

The Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) announced on March 28 that it has formulated a research and development and social implementation plan for the "Decarbonization of Thermal Processes in the Manufacturing Sector" project, which is scheduled to be implemented using the Green Innovation Fund. This was formulated based on discussions at the Industrial Structural Transformation Working Group for proper execution of the fund.

Specifically, with the aim of decarbonizing metal heating processes such as the pig iron casting manufacturing industry, the forging manufacturing industry, and the metal heat treatment industry, on the premise of establishing a cheap and large supply base for ammonia and hydrogen, By FY 2031, it will carry out essential research and development to advance the combustion technology required for carbon-neutral industrial furnaces and the conversion from combustion furnaces to electric furnaces.

METI website (in Japanese):
https://www.meti.go.jp/press/2022/03/20230328006/20230328006.html

Japan-U.S. important minerals supply chain strengthening agreement entered into force

The Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) announced on March 28 that at the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative in Washington, D.C., between H.E. Ambassador Katherine Tai, United States Trade Representative and H.E. Ambassador Katherine Tai, "Agreement between the Government of Japan and the Government of the United States on Strengthening the Supply Chain of Important Minerals" (the Japan-U.S. Agreement to Strengthen the Supply Chain of Important Minerals) was signed and that the agreement came into effect.

METI explained on the website that the agreement is for an urgent issue to secure important minerals essential for the production of electric vehicle batteries which is expected to continue to grow significantly in the future and it aims to build a strong supply chain through cooperation with like-minded countries.

METI website:
https://www.meti.go.jp/english/press/2023/0328_001.html

Itochu and Resonac produce ammonia from waste clothing

Itochu and Resonac Holdings announced on March 29 that they signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to embark on ammonia production using used clothing made from chemical fibers. Itochu will manufacture and supply a solid raw material that is a mixture of chemical fibers and waste plastics contained in used clothing, and Resonac will start ammonia production at its Kawasaki Plant (Kawasaki City) by the end of FY2023.

Resonac, which uses materials derived from used clothing and waste plastics, is expected to reduce CO2 emissions by about 80% if the mainstream method with natural gas is replaced by new method. This is because, in principle, a new heat source is not required when producing hydrogen, and the CO2 produced as a by-product is also recovered and reused. Itochu will supply 1,000 tons of solid raw materials for ammonia production in the first year. The plan is to increase this to 10,000 tons by FY2027. It is estimated that about 9,000 tons of ammonia can be produced from 10,000 tons of raw materials.

Ammonia is generally produced by reacting natural gas and water at high temperature to generate hydrogen and synthesizing it with nitrogen. CO2 reduction by their new method is expected.

ITOCHU website (in Japanese):
https://www.itochu.co.jp/ja/news/press/2023/230329_2.html

JOGMEC strengthens relationship with Saudi Aramco to build ammonia value chain

Japan Organization for Metals and Energy Security (JOGMEC) agreed with Saudi Aramco, a state-owned company in Saudi Arabia, to consider areas of cooperation in the value chain of fuel ammonia, which is expected to be a future low-carbon energy toward carbon neutrality, and it has signed a Memorandum of Understanding in the value chain of fuel ammonia on March 27, 2023. 

In October 2022, JOGMEC and Aramco entered into a Memorandum of Cooperation to cooperate in project support, technology development, and human resource development for hydrogen and fuel ammonia, which are expected to be low-carbon energy sources in the future. Under this MOC, the two sides agreed to explore areas of cooperation in the fuel ammonia value chain and signed an MOU.

JJOGMEC is focusing on areas where synergistic effects can be expected, such as building a supply chain and financial support measures that will enable the large-scale and economical use of hydrogen and fuel ammonia produced in Saudi Arabia. Aramco aims to become a major producer of not only crude oil and natural gas, but also hydrogen and fuel ammonia, and Japan is expected to become a major consumer of hydrogen and fuel ammonia.

JOGMEC website:
https://www.jogmec.go.jp/english/news/release/news_10_00030.html

230 Japanese companies submit a statement to the G7 meeting, demanding decarbonization

On March 28, the Japan Climate Leaders' Partnership (JCLP) announced that it made a proposal to the Japanese government toward the G7 Climate, Energy and Environment Ministers' Meeting and the Hiroshima Summit (summit) calling for five commitments, including 100% zero-emission vehicles (ZEVs) excluding hybrid vehicles by 2035. JCLP is a corporate group that has a sense of crisis about climate change and aims to quickly realize a decarbonized society. As of 2023, 230 companies are members.

In the opinion, it is essential to maintain Japan's competitiveness by communicating Japan's stance of "renewable energy top priority" and "reducing dependence on fossil fuel energy sources" both domestically and internationally, as a signal to attract investment. emphasized. In addition, it is necessary to phase out coal-fired power generation, which has not taken measures to reduce emissions, as soon as possible. The line should be reviewed and, if necessary, further measures and corrective actions should be taken.

Furthermore, it is urgent to introduce carbon pricing that contributes to the rapid expansion of cost-effective decarbonization technologies. The outline of the commitment requested in the written opinion is as follows.

1)Decarbonization of the power sector by 2035
2)Prioritize renewable energy and reduce dependence on fossil fuels
3)Early phase-out of coal-fired power generation
4)Introduction of carbon pricing
5)ZEV 100% in new passenger car sales by 2035

JCLP website:
https://japan-clp.jp/archives/13383