14th vgbe-tenpes workshop in Himeji (Japan) with focus on hydrogen and ammonia
On Wednesday, May 10, 2023, vgbe energy e.V., the European Association of Energy Plant Operators, and TENPES, the Thermal and Nuclear Power Engineering Society of Japan, signed an extension of their long-standing cooperation in Himeji, Japan.
The occasion was the holding of the 14th vgbe-TENPES workshop from May 9 to 12, 2023, consisting of technical discussions, technical visits and the 14th vgbe-TENPES technical exchange conference, which took place on May 10, 2023 (Wednesday) in Himeji City, Hyogo Prefecture at the Himeji Chamber of Commerce and Industry. From the vgbe office, Dr. Oliver Then, Managing Director vgbe, and Dr. Thomas Eck, Head of Thermal Power at vgbe, participated. Participating from the membership were:
- Professor Nikolaus Elze, Leiter Technik, EnBW
- Tilman Bechthold, RWE Power, Leiter Forschung
- Michael Schütz, RWE Technology International, Leiter Engineering
- Günter Heimann, LEAG, Leiter Zukunftsprojekte
- Dr. Jens Reich, Iqony Solutions, Leiter Energietechnologien
- Ilja Kaminskis, Latvenergo, Leiter Kraftwerke
The technical conference served to exchange information and opinions on issues of common interest in the fields of energy policy, power plant operation, plant maintenance and new technologies. The conference is held regularly to exchange information and views on issues of common interest in the areas of energy policy, power plant operation, maintenance of facilities and new technologies. The first meeting was held in April 2006, and this time due to Corona, after four years, again in person and in Japan. The meeting was attended by over 70 participants from the Japanese energy industry.
At the conference, a total of 13 speakers – eight from the vgbe side and five from the Japanese side (including from the major Japanese operators KEPCO and J-Power) – gave presentations on the conference theme “Energy in Europe and Japan”. If interested, the presentations can be requested from Ms. Ringhoff (diana.ringhoff@vgbe.energy).
The conference theme was “Energy Situation in Europe and Japan”, “Future Energy Strategies Toward Carbon Neutrality,” and “Carbon Neutrality in the Future”. In particular, the entry into a hydrogen economy and the possible uses of green ammonia were intensively discussed topics.
This continued during the technical visits, which took the vgbe group to production facilities and project sites of IHI, Mitsubishi and Kawasaki in the greater Himeji/Kobe/Kyoto area. The program was rounded off by talks with representatives of the international research association IERE and the Japanese organization J-Coal. Overall, it became apparent that the ambitious European and especially the even more ambitious German goals for the transformation of the energy system were received by the Japanese side with interest, but also with technically justified skepticism regarding their feasibility within the set time horizons; the diverse new construction projects of our member companies attracted great interest. Although the Japanese energy policy goals are to lead to climate neutrality in 2050, an energy source mix is assumed that is based approximately half on wind and PV, but also includes nuclear energy and fossil fuels (clean coal and green gases). The vgbe participants were impressed by how advanced, against this background, the Japanese activities to build a hydrogen economy and to use ammonia both as a hydrogen carrier and as a fuel.
On May 9 and 11, 2023, vgbe participants conducted technical visits on carbon neutrality (IHI Aioi Plant, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Takasago Machinery Works, HySTRA, Kawasaki Heavy Industries, etc.).
