NEDO is leading the development of next generation zero-emission vessels

On October 25, the New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO) announced its aim to realize carbon neutrality by 2050 as part of the Green Innovation Fund Project and introduced the "Development of Next-Generation Vessels" project to promote the social implementation of next-generation vessels that use hydrogen, ammonia, and LNG, and other low emission materials, as fuels for the decarbonization of marine transportation. The project will begin in 2021 and will continue for 10 years. A total of 32 billion yen will be provided to fund the project and the project will focus on four themes, including the development of engines that use hydrogen and ammonia as fuel. In this way, NEDO aims to realize the commercial operation of vessels that do not emit greenhouse gases during operation.

In October 2020, the government declared their "Carbon Neutrality by 2050" goal, stating a commitment to reducing net greenhouse gas emissions to zero by 2050. However, this goal represents a significant advancement compared to the government's traditional policy stance and cannot be achieved with ordinary efforts. Current efforts, such as the structural transformation of the energy and industrial sectors and innovation through investment, need to be significantly accelerated.

For this reason, NEDO shared ambitious, defined goals for the public and private sectors through the Green Innovation Fund Project, totaling 2 trillion yen in investment. NEDO also announced the continuation of support for companies that include R&D and social implementation as key management issues. The Green Innovation Fund Project targets the priority industries in the government's action plan in their green growth strategy for "Carbon Neutrality by 2050," one of which is the shipping industry. If NEDO realizes the commercial operation of next-generation vessels that use hydrogen, ammonia, LNG, etc. as fuel, it will contribute to the decarbonization of marine transportation.

From this, NEDO publicly solicited the development of next-generation vessels based on the research and development and social implementation plan formulated by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism, and adopted a total of four themes. The R&D items and adopted themes to be implemented and the companies involved are as follows.

[R&D item 1: Development of hydrogen fueled ships]

■ Adopted theme (1) Development of marine hydrogen engine and Marine Hydrogen Fuel System (MHFS): Kawasaki Heavy Industries, Yanmar Power Technology, Japan Engine Corporation

[R&D item 2: Development of ammonia fueled ships]

■ Adopted theme (2) Development of ships equipped with ammonia fuel domestic engines: NYK Line, Nihon Shipyard Co., Japan Engine Corporation, IHI Power Systems

■ Adopted theme (3) Integrated project of ammonia fuel ship development and social implementation: Itochu Corporation, Nihon Shipyard Co., Mitsui Engineering & Shipbuilding, K Line, NS United Kaiun Kaisha

[R&D item 3: Development of measures against methane slip on LNG fueled ships]

■ Adopted theme (4) Development of methane slip reduction technology for LNG fueled ships by improving catalysts and engines: Hitachi Zosen Corporation, Yanmar Power Technology, Mitsui O.S.K. Lines