How Canadian ammonia could help keep the lights on in Japan

Japan plans to import millions of tons of ammonia in the next few years in a push to decarbonize that country's power generation — an initiative that could present a big opportunity for Alberta's energy sector. 

While Japan was once nearly synonymous with nuclear power, the country's use of that technology plummeted after the 2011 Fukushima disaster. Today the country has one of the lowest energy self-sufficiency rates of any country in the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and relies primarily on imports of coal, oil and liquefied natural gas for its energy supply. 

It nevertheless has plans to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050 and as part of that plan intends to start co-firing its coal power plants with ammonia, which does not generate carbon dioxide when burned.

The plan is to start with 20 per cent ammonia and increase the percentage over time. Japan also plans to use ammonia as a shipping fuel and to eventually export its fuel ammonia technology to other Asian countries. 

But because the world doesn't yet produce enough ammonia to support even that 20-per-cent threshold, Japan's energy needs could present an opening for resource-rich countries like Canada, said Karl Pires, governor of the Canadian Chamber of Commerce in Japan.

"[Japan is] really trying to ramp up in terms of securing the procurement of enough ammonia," said Pires, who is also a Tokyo-based lawyer specializing in the energy sector. 

"It's a great opportunity."

Alberta, in particular, is poised to take advantage. 

Hydrogen is used to make ammonia, and the province is Canada's largest hydrogen producer. In the last two years, there have been announcements of low-carbon hydrogen and ammonia partnerships between companies such as Marubeni and Pembina Pipeline; Itochu, Petronas and Inter Pipeline; and Mitsubishi and Shell.

Of course, announcements are not shovels in the ground, and how Japan's ammonia strategy pans out for both that country — and for Alberta — remains to be seen.

The idea of using ammonia for thermal power generation has faced its share of criticism for being new, expensive and only debatably beneficial to the environment. 

Canada's participation in the industry also depends on getting over supply chain and regulatory hurdles. Pires compared the ammonia opportunity with the hype that surrounded Canada's plans to export LNG to Japan, which faced various hurdles and were slow to get off the ground.

Still, with the global ammonia market expected to triple by 2050, some say the Japanese bet on low-carbon ammonia is one of many opportunities for Canada in a growing and changing industry. 

"The opportunity for Alberta [in low-carbon ammonia] is absolutely huge," said David Layzell, energy systems architect with the Transition Accelerator, a non-profit organization set up to help Canada reach its climate goals.