TOKYO, September 13, 2024 – Mitsubishi Corporation and ExxonMobil have signed a project framework agreement for Mitsubishi’s participation in ExxonMobil’s hydrogen facility under development in Baytown, Texas, Mitsubishi announced on Friday.
Mitsubishi intends to partner with Japanese oil refiner Idemitsu Kosan for joint equity and ammonia offtake from ExxonMobil’s facility to supply power generation, process heating and other industrial activities in Japan. Mitsubishi did not advance information on the size of the potential equity participation or the offtake volumes.
In April 2023, Mitsubishi joined six other Japanese companies in a venture to convert part of Namikata Terminal in Imabari City into an ammonia facility. The project is targeting to handle around 1 million tonnes per year of low-carbon ammonia by 2030 to supply power, automobile and chemical applications in the Shikoku and Chugoku regions.
The planned hydrogen unit at ExxonMobil’s refining and petrochemicals plant in Baytown is expected to be the world’s largest of its kind upon startup, capable of producing up to 28.3 mcm (1 bcf) of low-carbon hydrogen per day and more than 1 million tonnes of low-carbon ammonia per year. A final investment decision is expected in 2025 with anticipated startup in 2029.
“We are excited to be closely collaborating with ExxonMobil to develop low-carbon hydrogen and ammonia supply chains that will bridge the United States and Japan. We are also working with Idemitsu Kosan Co.,Ltd., which is developing an ammonia hub near ours and intends to participate in ExxonMobil’s hydrogen facility with us,” said Masaru Saito, CEO of of Mitsubishi Corporation’s environmental energy group.