MHI, PTT Global Chemical to Develop Low-Carbon Petrochemical Plant

PTT Global Chemical Company (GC) and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Asia Pacific (MHI-AP) have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to conduct a joint study of the technologies to be integrated in a large-scale petrochemical complex in Thailand. The collaboration will focus on solutions that use low-carbon fuels such as hydrogen and ammonia, as well as implementing carbon capture and storage (CCS) technologies to support Thailand’s carbon neutrality goals by 2050.

"Low-carbon fuels such as hydrogen, ammonia and CCS technologies have great potential in reducing carbon emissions from existing energy infrastructure,” said Mr. Osamu Ono, Managing Director of MHI-AP. “MHI-AP is honored to partner with GC to explore how we can utilize our technology and expertise to reduce carbon emissions from GC's existing business assets and support the establishment of an economically viable large-scale carbon neutral petrochemical plant."

MHI and GC executives meet to sign MoU; Image Credits: Mitsubishi Heavy Industries

The MoU covers a four-year span and outlines two primary objectives to gauge the feasibility of applying decarbonization technologies to GC’s assets. The first objective is to conduct comparative research between the use of hydrogen and ammonia as gas turbine fuels and, in addition to this testing, the application of CCS technologies to reduce CO₂ emissions from power generators.

A secondary objective is to evaluate the application and optimization of CCS technologies for the steam-methane reforming (SMR) process. MHI-AP will enable this testing by providing carbon capture technologies, hydrogen combustion gas turbines, and ammonia gas turbines.

The collaboration will support Thailand’s commitment to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050, as hydrogen and ammonia, rather than natural gas, can be incorporated as fuel in power generation to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.