5 October 2021

Yara, JERA and Idemitsu Kosan explore collaboration on clean ammonia bunkering in Japan

Yara International, a leading global ammonia player, JERA, Japan’s largest power generation company and Idemitsu Kosan, one of Japan’s leading suppliers of petroleum products, have signed an MoU to explore the opportunity of a Japanese distribution network and bunkering business for clean ammonia. An earlier collaboration announced in May 2021 between Yara and JERA to decarbonise domestic power production is now expanded into studying the potential of clean ammonia alongside Idemitsu Kosan, which brings an established distribution network for petroleum products as well as bunkering capabilities. The distribution network and bunkering business aligns with Japan’s target to reach carbon neutrality by 2050, by importing 3 million tonnes of ammonia for fuel by 2030, and 30 million tonnes by 2050. Under the MoU,the partners are to discuss their contribution to improving ammonia supply reliability in Japan while ensuring economic efficiency (Press release, press release). 

European Commission endorses €2.1 billion for Finland’s pandemic recovery finance

The European Commission has endorsed €2.1 billion in grants to Finland’s recovery and resilience plan as a response to the COVID-19 crisis. The assessment underlies Finland’s action on the green transitions, with 50% of the funds allocated to measures that support climate objectives. These measures include the highest emitting sectors, namely energy, housing, industry, and transport as well as the phasing out of coal and taxation changes to favour cleaner technologies. Additionally, Finland recently announced its ambitious target of achieving “carbon neutrality” by 2035 and proposed to invest in clean energy technologies, low-carbon heating systems, EV charging points, and the decarbonisation of industrial processes in order to further support the green transition (Press release). 

Freyr acquires three seasoned sales professionals from Tesla

Freyr, the Norwegian battery producer, has recruited three seasoned sales professionals from Tesla for its plans to develop 43 GWh battery cell production capacity by 2025. Zukui Hu, Valentin Rota and Guillaume Mancini have all helped build the energy storage division of Tesla in the EMEA region. Zukui Hu, with 13 years of experience in project development and financing in the renewable energy industry, joins as Vice President Sales, Energy Storage System (ESS). Valentin Rota joins as the Sales and Business Development Director, ESS, with 10 years of experience in business development and sales in the renewable energy industry. Lastly, Guillaume Mancini joins as the Application Engineering Director, ESS, with eight years of experience in ESS as well as having worked with research, technical sales, design, construction,and operations of Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS) (Mobility watch, press release). 

SKF, Luleå University of Technology collaborate on hydrogen initiative CH2ESS

SKF has entered as a new collaboration partner in Luleå University of Technology’s initiative, CH2ESS (Center for Hydrogen Energy Systems Sweden), to engage and finance the research of hydrogen in industrial processes and energy systems. The common aim among the CH2ESS actors is to accelerate the green transition and the interest in the research-, innovation-, and industrialisation investments of hydrogen technology in northern Sweden. Together with CH2ESS and its partners, SKF’s expertise in fluid machinery, material science, production technology, and IoT solutions will be applied to research areas including hybrid ceramic bearings and the development and commercialisation of fossil-free steel production for bearing applications (Press release). 

TECO 2030 receives “AiP” by DNV for hydrogen fuel cell system

TECO 2030 has been assigned an Approval in Principle (AiP) by the classification company DNV for its hydrogen fuel cell system and three versions of the fuel cell module FCM400. The independent certification confirms the feasibility of the fuel cell design concept which is now ready to be realised. The hydrogen fuel cells are specifically customised for use on ships and other heavy-duty applications with a designed net power capacity of 400 kW. By combining several fuel cell modules in a fuel cell container, a system configuration in the multi-megawatt scale is enabled. TECO 2030 has now initiated the process for a Type Approval (TA) from DNV, which would confirm that their fuel cells and fuel cell systems comply with regulations for standard designs and/or routine manufacturing of identical equipment (Press release). 

What we’re reading

• World airlines commit to ‘net zero’ CO2 emissions by 2050 (Euractiv)
• Alcoa Joins Metal Firms in Pledge to Eliminate Emissions by 2050 (Yahoo Finance)
• Europe’s energy crisis threatens to reignite disputes within the bloc (Financial Times)

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