KAWASAKI, JAPAN—Toshiba Energy Systems and Solutions Corporation (hereinafter, “Toshiba ESS”) today announced that it will participate as a subcontractor for SOEC^*2 Methanation Technological Innovation Business, which was proposed by Osaka Gas Co., Ltd. (head office: Osaka City, president: Masataka Fujiwara; hereinafter, “Osaka Gas”). This decision was made because the SOEC Methanation Technology Innovation Project was adopted as part of the “Innovative technology development related to synthetic methane production” in “Green Innovation Fund Projects/Development of Technology for Producing Fuel Using CO₂, etc.” planned by New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO).　　

By taking advantage of the SOEC steam electrolytic technology that we have been developing for many years, we will participate in the developing elemental technology of high-temperature electrolyzers during scale-up development. In addition, by using the methane synthesis catalyst plant technology possessed by Osaka Gas, Toshiba ESS will be able to construct an optimal energy system and more efficient system configuration than with conventional methanation. Furthermore, highly efficient operation can significantly reduce the cost of synthetic methane production.　

In this project, we are planning to start with a small-scale test, which uses a high-temperature electrolytic linkage with a methane synthesizer, then move to larger scale testing step-by-step, such as a laboratory scale test (kW-class) and a bench scale test (hundreds of kW-class), and finally, perform a pilot scale test (several MW-class) from FY2022 to FY2030. In the case of upscaling, we will optimize not only configuration of a single device, but also the entire system configuration by utilizing our experience in the construction of electric power plants, etc. We expect that the results of this development can be applied for not only methane production, but also high-efficiency production of hydrogen and various fuels and chemicals.

Shigehiro Kawahara, vice president of the Energy Aggregation Div., says, “We are honored to be able to contribute to increasing demands in the renewable energy market.
Toshiba will continue to meet the needs of customers globally with our reliable experience and cutting-edge technologies, products and solutions in renewable energy.”

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