Nippon Steel, Mitsubishi and ExxonMobil to Explore Carbon Capture and Storage in APAC

Japan’s largest steel producer Nippon Steel together with Mitsubishi Corporation and ExxonMobil Asia Pacific signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to jointly study carbon capture and storage (CCS) and the establishment of potential CCS value chains in Asia- Pacific.

Based on the MoU, the three companies will conduct research on the capture of CO2 emissions from Nippon Steel's domestic steelworks and evaluate the necessary infrastructure development required, with a view to establishing CCS value chains in the Asia-Pacific region.

It will also include a detailed evaluation of storage opportunities in the APAC region, including in Malaysia, Indonesia and Australia. Mitsubishi Corporation plans to evaluate overseas CO2 transportation and the development of CCS value chain. This is the first study to develop value chains for carbon capture in Japan with the aim to store elsewhere overseas in the region.

Nippon Steel set forth the "Nippon Steel Carbon Neutral Vision 2050" in its medium- to long-term management plan announced in March 2021 and positioned CCS as one of the key technologies to realise this vision.

Through this study, the Japanese steelmaker will progress the implementation of CCS including securing storage sites for overseas storage of CO2 generated from steel works, developing storage infrastructure, advocating for policies and regulation, and examining its cost adequacy.

Mitsubishi Corporation has identified Energy Transformation (EX) as a key initiative in its Roadmap for a Carbon Neutral Society formulated in October 2021 and its Medium-Term Management Strategy 2024 released in May last year. Mitsubishi Corporation will evaluate the overseas CO2 transportation and the development of CCS value chain through this joint effort.

ExxonMobil meanwhile continues to advance innovative solutions for a lower-carbon future. In early 2021, it established a Low Carbon Solutions business, which is working to bring lower-emission technologies to market, making them accessible to hard-to-decarbonize industries.

It is committed to accelerating significant emission reductions through strategic collaborations and through leading the development and deployment of scalable lower-emission technologies, such as CCS, needed to advance solutions for various industries in the Asia Pacific region and beyond.

In the field of CCS, in addition to this project, Nippon Steel has also begun active cooperation with other companies and will continue to develop technologies to achieve carbon neutrality throughout the entire supply chain.

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