Mitsui & Co. and CF Industries plan CCS ammonia production on US Gulf Coast

Mitsui & Co. and CF Industries will jointly develop a greenfield facility that will produce CCS ammonia on the US Gulf Coast. The partners are targeting a reduction of at least 60% emissions compared to conventional ammonia production, with the selection of a technology provider in its final stages. Following a twelve month FEED study and FID next year, the partners expect ammonia production to begin by 2027 at the earliest. Mitsui & Co. will lead the marketing and distribution of CCS ammonia in Asia, with CF Industries operating and maintaining the production facility in the US.

Our work with Mitsui has reinforced our shared belief that blue ammonia will play a critical role in accelerating the world’s transition to clean energy and that demand for blue ammonia will grow meaningfully in the second half of this decade. We believe that the United States offers considerable advantages for blue ammonia production due to access to plentiful and low-cost natural gas, the regulatory and legal framework in place, and the geology suitable for permanent carbon sequestration.

President and CEO of CF Industries Tony Will in his organisation’s official press release, 3 May 2022

In November last year we reported that, thanks to planned upgrades at their existing Donaldsonville and Yazoo City plants, CF Industries was targeting CCS ammonia production of 1.25 million tonnes per year from 2024. Earlier last year CF Industries also launched a renewable ammonia project at Donaldsonville, with electrolysers and grid-supplied renewable energy to feed renewable hydrogen into conventional ammonia production from 2024 (20,000 tonnes renewable ammonia per year, initially). This new announcement states CF Industries’ overall goal is up to 2 million tonnes of “green and blue” ammonia production at its existing facilities from 2024. This indicates that further expansion of these plans – or new projects in the US or overseas – are waiting in the wings.