INPEX, in partnership with Osaka Gas, is developing technology aimed at the practical application of a CO2-methanation system producing carbon-neutral city gas as a subsidized project sanctioned by the New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO) of Japan.
In 2023, we signed an engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract with Chiyoda Corporation and began construction of a test facility capable of converting 400 normal cubic meters of CO2 per hour, equivalent to the volume of city gas used by approximately 10,000 households. This is also equivalent to the production of 400 normal cubic meters of methane, the main component of city gas, making the operation one of the largest of its kind in the world.
This facility, consisting of a methanation system, raw material supplies and utilities, will be connected to our Koshijihara Plant in Nagaoka City, Niigata Prefecture. A demonstration producing synthetic methane using CO2 sourced from the Koshijihara Plant will begin in 2025.
The synthetic methane produced in this demonstration is expected to be fed into our natural gas trunk pipeline network and supplied to customers.
