Mitsubishi Studies LCO2 Carriers in Partnership with TotalEnergies 

Japan’s Mitsubishi Shipbuilding and France’s energy giant TotalEnergies will work together to explore the opportunities for large tonnage liquid CO2 carriers. The companies believe that LCO2 carriers will play a pivotal role in transporting CO2 from its emission sources to storage sites or facilities for utilization. By initiating a feasibility study the goal is to position the companies at the forefront of the emerging market.

MHI Group is pursuing a range of measures for a decarbonized society, and establishing a CO2 ecosystem is a key part of that effort. The shipbuilder highlighted that it is actively pursuing the commercialization of LCO2 carriers, and their goal is to leverage existing knowledge developed in their work in building liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) carriers and liquefied natural gas (LNG) carriers, and the CO2 capture technologies of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Engineering.

“We believe that LCO2 carriers are an effective solution for achieving a decarbonized world,” said Toru Kitamura, President of Mitsubishi Shipbuilding. “We will continue to actively pursue technology development in cooperation with partners seeking to achieve decarbonization using LCO2 carriers, with the aim of market formation for the CCUS value chain.”

The concept for the vessel centers on the transportation of large amounts of CO2 over long distances at low costs. Mitsubishi believes that shipping can provide an economical solution especially for countries that do not have the infrastructure for carbon capture and storage or industries to use the captured carbon. The feasibility study will also look at the loading technologies for CO2 and the infrastructure in ports so that additional land will not be required to develop new systems to transfer carbon onto ships.

“Large tonnage liquid CO2 carrier will be key to accommodating the expected surge in transported CO2 volumes for geological storage triggered by the acceleration in net zero carbon targets worldwide and to meet world industrial emitters’ needs,” said Bruno Seilhan, Vice President CCUS at TotalEnergies. 

Going forward, through this joint project with TotalEnergies, MHI Group says it will continue to develop and offer a wide range of technologies related to the LCO2 carriers essential to building a CCUS value chain, and to contribute to the realization of a decarbonized society.