Hydrom, Oman’s dedicated government development vehicle for low-carbon hydrogen, has awarded land to two projects. Actis and Fortescue will develop about 4.5 GW of wind and solar energy to power the production of more than 1 million tonnes tons of ammonia per year. With the same wind and solar energy capacity, EDF, J-Power and Yamna will develop a similarly-sized, 1 million ton per-year ammonia plant.
H2Carrier intends to develop two wind farms in far northern Norway with a combined capacity of 1.55 GW, which will power offshore hydrogen and ammonia production.
Nel will supply over 1 GW of alkaline electrolysers for Hy Stor Energy’s hydrogen production and storage hub project in Mississippi, USA. In other electrolyser news, Cepsa and Allied Green Ammonia have picked technology providers for their under-development projects in Spain and Australia.
Incentivised by the US government’s Inflation Reduction Act, Topsoe plans to build a 1 GW solid oxide electrolysis cell manufacturing plant in Virginia. Combined with its existing SOEC factory in Herning, Denmark, the new factory will make Topsoe the largest SOEC manufacturer globally.
The European Hydrogen Bank has awarded nearly €720 million to seven renewable hydrogen and ammonia projects. The funding will act to bridge the price gap between the cost of hydrogen production and the price buyers are willing to pay. Recipients will receive €0.37 - €0.48 in subsidies per kilogram of renewable hydrogen, and will collectively produce 1.58 million tons of renewable hydrogen over ten years. In conducting a transparent auction process, the European Commission has also provided vital insights into trends in demand for renewable hydrogen and ammonia.
Kenya aims to substitute 50% of current, ammonia-based fertilizer imports with locally-produced alternatives, based on the production of electrolytic hydrogen. New guidelines from Kenya’s Energy and Petroleum Regulatory Authority set carbon intensity thresholds for “green” hydrogen and ammonia, as well as the incentives on offer for project developers. The new launch follows commitments to promote local fertilizer production made by heads of state at the Africa Fertilizer and Soil Health Summit. We also explore two existing renewable projects in Kenya from Maire Tecnimont and Talus Renewables.
Hygenco will establish a 1.1 million tons per year renewable ammonia project in the Gopalpur Industrial Park. Hygenco recently commissioned the Steel One project, one of India’s first MW-scale, electrolytic hydrogen production plants.
Eastern Pacific Shipping’s on-order very large ammonia carriers (VLACs) will be registered in Singapore, thanks to a new partnership with the Maritime and Port Authority. Trafigura has announced the first of its ammonia-fueled, medium gas carriers will be delivered from South Korea in 2027. In Japan, K LINE and MAN are leading a 5-party collaboration to develop ammonia fueled-engines and deploy them in 200,000 dwt bulk carriers. We also explore ammonia-fueled Aframaxes in Malaysia, a concept study for a large-volume, coastal ammonia carrier in Japan, and a new salmon fishing vessel design in Norway.
Amogy’s ammonia-to-electrical power system will be used to charge Terox’s electric construction vehicles, thanks to a new commercial partnership in Norway. It will also be deployed onboard Hanwa Ocean’s ammonia-fueled supply vessels.
MAN Energy Solutions has announced one of the first deployments of its ammonia two-stroke engine will take place in Japan. Mitsui E&S will construct the MAN B&W 7S60ME dual-fuel engine, with Imabari Shipbuilding to then install it aboard a Newcastlemax bulk carrier, along with an integrated SCR catalytic converter to treat engine NOX emissions. The news underscores significant momentum for the deployment of marine ammonia engines, with Wärtsilä, WinGD and Mitsubishi Shipbuilding also engaged in ongoing projects.