29-11-2012

JGC awarded contract for carbon dioxide capture, storage, and compression facilities

JGC Corporation announced today that it received a contract from Japan CCS Co., Ltd to construct the core facilities at a carbon dioxide capture and storage (CCS) technology demonstration project. The site for the demonstration project is located adjacent to an oil refinery in Tomakomai, Hokkaido, owned by Idemitsu Kosan Co.,Ltd.  The lump-sum turnkey contract calls for the engineering, procurement, construction and commissioning work associated with carbon dioxide capture facilities with a yearly capacity of 200,000 tons of carbon dioxide per year, as well as compression, transportation and injection facilities. The value of the contract was not disclosed. Performance testing is scheduled to be completed at the end of January, 2016. 

CCS technology is attracting attention as one potential long-term solution to climate change. In Japan, the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) formulated a plan to industrialize CCS after the year 2020, and since 2008 has been conducting various geological surveys on candidate sites for CCS demonstration projects.

In December 2011, METI specified Tomakomai, Hokkaido as the location of its CCS demonstration project, and from February 2012, selected Japan CCS Co., Ltd to take charge of building the "Carbon Dioxide Reduction Technology Demonstration Project", Japan's first full CCS demonstration project, including carbon capture, compression, transport, injecting, and underground storage facilities, as well as a monitoring system. Japan CCS Co., Ltd then took charge of overseeing competitive bidding for the EPC contracts for the various facilities. JGC was awarded the contract for the engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) as well as the commissioning work for the core facilities for the capture, compression and transport of carbon dioxide supplied from a hydrogen production unit in Hokkaido refinery owned by Idemitsu Kosan Co.,Ltd.

JGC has not only been involved for many years in energy projects involving processing of acid gases (such as carbon dioxide, ammonia, and hydrogen sulfide), but has also constructed CCS facilities at a natural gas processing plant in Algeria in 2004, in is currently working on another CCS project at a liquefied natural gas (LNG) plant in Australia. JGC has worked on bringing down the costs of CCS as an essential step toward CCS commercialization, through increasing the energy efficiency of the technology. Through this past experience, JGC has built up a wealth of expertise in CCS, and is structured so as to be able to offer optimized proposals. It is believed that JGC was selected as the recipient of this contract due to the clients' favorable evaluation of our numerous strategies for improving energy efficiency and reducing costs.

JGC will continue promoting the development of superior, economically feasible CCS technology and engineering, and contribute to stepping up efforts to mitigate climate change.