Emissions

JERA, Malaysian energy firm partnering on LNG, hydrogen work

JERA, Malaysian energy firm partnering on LNG, hydrogen work

Japanese power generation company JERA has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Malaysia’s Petroliam Nasional Berhad (PETRONAS), concerning cooperation to decarbonize the sector.

The MoU specifies that JERA and PETRONAS will cooperate in promoting the use of LNG in Asian countries and in establishing supply chains for ammonia and hydrogen fuels.

ERA and PETRONAS have built a good relationship through the sale and purchase of LNG over nearly 40 years. Because PETRONAS is an ammonia producer in Asia and is considering the production of green ammonia and hydrogen, JERA believes there are many businesses in the LNG and decarbonization sectors in which the two companies can collaborate.

The collaboration was formalized virtually by PETRONAS executive vice president, gas & new energy, Adnan Zainal Abidin, and corporate vice president & chief operating officer, business development department, JERA, Yukio Kani.

JERA’s Yukio Kani said: “We are pleased to conclude this MoU with PETRONAS, which shares our goal of achieving net zero carbon emissions by 2050. We believe that strengthening our cooperation with PETRONAS will not only expand business opportunities for both companies but also contribute to the stable supply of energy globally and the transition to a decarbonised society.”

Adnan Zainal Abidin said: “We are proud to elevate our four-decade long relationship with JERA which will not only see us explore emerging low-carbon energy sources such as ammonia and hydrogen but also to strengthen our LNG partnership.

“Importantly, the scope of collaboration also opens up opportunities across PETRONAS’ integrated value chain and beyond the borders of Japan as we seek to grow the use of low-carbon energy sources globally.”

In the LNG space, PETRONAS and JERA will be collaborating to grow the use of natural gas as a cleaner marine fuel through LNG bunkering solutions, in support of International Maritime Organization (IMO) regulations on greenhouse gas emissions. Through the MoU, both companies will explore the establishment of a global bunkering supply network, leveraging on both companies’ experience in LNG bunkering.

The collaboration will build on both companies’ current efforts to achieve net zero targets.

Through the JERA Zero CO2 Emissions 2050 announced last year, JERA has been working to achieve virtually zero CO2 emissions from its operations in Japan and overseas by 2050 through the expansion of renewable energy and the development of technologies for zero CO2 emission thermal power generation.

Today, PETRONAS is already producing blue hydrogen as a by-product from its facilities and will be exploring the commercial production of green hydrogen in the near future.