K Line inks deal with Japanese gas company to study CCS logistics chain

The agreement will lead to a number of in-depth studies relating to the establishment of a CCS value chain. The two companies will model the transportation of CO2 emitted in the Tokyo metropolitan area by sea as liquefied CO2 to storage sites in Japan and in the Asian-Pacific region for sequestration. 

The studies will also examine the economic efficiency and operations relating to the transportation of liquefied CO2 by ship.

K Line plans to begin the world’s first full-scale carbon capture and storage (CCS) transportation in 2025. 

The Motorship previously reported that Japan’s Japan Petroleum Exploration Co., Ltd. (JAPEX), JGC Holdings Corporation (JGC HD,) and K Line signed an agreement with Malaysian energy producer Petronas in late September 2023 in connection with plans to develop an offshore carbon capture and storage (CCS) project in Malaysia’s waters by 2028.

Tokyo Gas recently announced plans to trial a carbon capture and storage demonstration unit supplied by Toshiba at its Tokyo Gas Senju Techno Station in Tokyo’s Arakawa Ward, which will capture 5% concentration CO2 emissions from a gas cogeneration system from March 2024. The utility is also exploring other carbon management solutions including potential CCS projects in Australia and exports of synthetic methane. 

The Japanese government believes CCS to be one of the significant methods for achieving carbon neutrality and aims to enable the storage of 120 to 240 million tons of CO2 per year in 2050. The final report of the study group for a long-term CCS roadmap suggests that the use of the promising storage potential overseas is one strong option. This requires the liquefaction of CO2 and marine transportation of the liquefied CO2 to a place suitable for CO2 storage.

The economics of potential international liquefied carbon supply chains represent an area of focus for a number of Japanese ship owners and operators and trading houses. We previously reported on a supply chain study involving Sumitomo, Toho Gas, K LINE and Woodside in Australia in September 2023, as well as a project between Mitsui OSK Lines (MOL) and Cosmo Oil in October 2023.