Mitsubishi Gas Chemical signs JOGMEC CCS study contract for Mizushima cluster

Six Japanese companies, including Mitsubishi Gas Chemical, Sumitomo Corporation, Asahi Kasei, ENEOS, JFE Steel and Mitsubishi Chemical, were selected under a JOGMEC public tender as the "Mizushima Cluster" in Kurashiki, Okayama, and signed a commissioned study contract with JOGMEC. The group will design shared CO2 separation, recovery, liquefaction, temporary storage and shipping facilities for a ship-based CCS value chain. The cluster plans to ship 3.43 million tonnes of liquefied CO2 per year at startup, which the companies describe as the largest shipping volume among domestic cluster projects under study.

Key facts

Market context

Carbon dioxide capture and storage, or CCS, is a set of technologies that separate CO2 from industrial emissions, compress or liquefy it, and store it permanently, usually in deep geological formations. Demand for such services is driven mainly by heavy emitters that are hard to decarbonize, including steelmaking, refining, petrochemicals and power generation, as well as by government climate targets and carbon pricing. Ship-based CCS is a particular variant in which captured CO2 is liquefied and transported by vessel to a storage site, which suits countries like Japan with limited suitable onshore geology. Projects of this kind tend to rely on shared infrastructure, so that several emitters in one industrial complex can pool separation, liquefaction and shipping capacity. For chemical buyers and investors, such clusters signal future demand for compression equipment, liquefaction technology, specialty shipping and storage services, and they can reshape how industrial sites plan their emissions reduction over the coming decade.

Source: official release on mgc.co.jp. Summary and context written by Market Krystal.