Japan looks to invest in Alberta to produce ammonia, methanol

TOKYO Japanese companies are looking to invest in the Canadian province of Alberta to produce ammonia and methanol in an effort to build global supply chains of greener energy to fight climate change, a provincial minister said.

Alberta, home to Canada's oil sands, aims to become a hub for hydrogen production and carbon storage, as the world tries to reduce climate-warming emissions.

As part of the efforts, Japan wants to increase investment in natural gas LNG and low-carbon fuels such as hydrogen and ammonia in order to achieve a goal of carbon neutrality by 2050.

We are having LNG conversations with Japanese companies, but most of their interests are around new projects for hydrogen, meaning ammonia or methanol, said Dale Nally, Alberta's associate minister of natural gas and electricity.

Japan wants a diversified clean energy portfolio and they also want a diversity of jurisdictions that they get that energy from, he told Reuters on Friday.

He said that the resource-poor Asian nation views Alberta as a secure provider of clean energy products.

Japanese trading company Itochu Corp and Malaysia's state energy firm Petronas are exploring the feasibility of one of the world's largest production facilities of low-carbon ammonia and methanol in Alberta.

Itochu's rival, Mitsubishi Corp, and Shell Canada signed a pact last year to produce low-carbon hydrogen in Alberta.

Nally said that there are other Japanese companies that are looking to get into the ammonia and methanol space in Alberta, though he wouldn't give specific names.

He said that these companies looking to produce clean hydrogen need to invest in CCUS to do that, and they will be looking to invest in CCUS.