On December 12, NYK, JERA Co., Inc. (hereinafter "JERA"), and Resonac Holdings Corporation (hereinafter “Resonac") signed an agreement to jointly study the supply of ammonia as fuel to ships.

As part of the Green Innovation Fund Project* of the New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO), NYK is conducting research and development of a tugboat equipped with a domestic ammonia-fueled engine (hereinafter "A-Tug") together with other partner companies. As part of this initiative, in conjunction with the completion of the A-Tug scheduled for next June, we will work together to realize the world's first safe and secure supply of fuel ammonia to ships.

・Establishment of safe operation methods for supplying ammonia as marine fuel
・Establishment of a system to transport and receive ammonia as marine fuel to and from the port area
・Lobbying relevant authorities to formulate rules on supplying ammonia as a marine fuel

As the energy shift towards a decarbonized society accelerates, the shipping industry is facing the urgent task of reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, and research and development is underway to convert marine fuels from conventional heavy oil to liquefied natural gas (LNG) and next-generation zero-emission fuels such as hydrogen and ammonia.

Since ammonia does not emit carbon dioxide (CO₂) when combusted, it is expected to be a next-generation fuel that contributes to the prevention of global warming. Furthermore, by utilizing CO₂-free hydrogen** as the raw material for ammonia, achieving zero emissions is possible, considering the fuel's life cycle.

Currently, there are no examples of bunkering ammonia as marine fuel for ships equipped with ammonia-fueled engines, and this joint study is expected to promote the use of ammonia as marine fuel in the shipping sector.

JERA Co., Inc.
Headquarters: Tokyo, Japan
President: Satoshi Onoda
Website: https://www.jera.co.jp/english/

Resonac Holdings Corporation
Headquarters: Tokyo, Japan
President: Hidehito Takahashi
Website: https://www.resonac.com/jp

NYK
Headquarters: Tokyo, Japan
President: Takaya Soga
Website: https://www.nyk.com/English/

On March 10, 2023, the NYK Group released its medium-term management plan “Sail Green, Drive Transformations 2026 — A Passion for Planetary Wellbeing.” The NYK Group is promoting growth strategies with ESG at the core, based on the Group’s mission statement of “Bringing value to life” and a new corporate vision for 2030, which reads, “we go beyond the scope of a comprehensive global logistics enterprise to co-create value required for the future by advancing our core business and growing new ones.”

*Green Innovation Fund Project
To significantly accelerate current initiatives such as structural transformation of the energy and industrial sectors and innovation through bold investment towards carbon neutrality by 2050, a 2 trillion yen fund has been created at NEDO to provide continuous support to companies and others who are working on management issues based on shared ambitious and specific targets in the public and private sectors. The fund system provides continuous support for up to 10 years, from research and development and demonstration to social implementation. Support is provided mainly in the 14 priority fields for which action plans have been formulated in the Green Growth Strategy.

**CO₂-Free Hydrogen
One way of producing hydrogen without generating CO2 is through the use of renewable energy. A second way is by using natural gas or coal together with carbon capture and storage. CO2-free ammonia synthesis is a technology for synthesizing ammonia using such CO2-free hydrogen.