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First Ammonia announces deal for 5GW of Topsoe electrolysers
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US-based First Ammonia has announced a new reservation deal with Topsoe for delivery of solid-oxide electrolysers. Initially, First Ammonia will purchase 500 MW of SOECs from Topsoe’s new manufacturing plant in Herning, Denmark, with the option to expand to 5 GW over the lifetime of the agreement. That initial 500 MW will be deployed over two First Ammonia production projects, both targeting commercial operations in 2025: one in northern Germany, and one in southwest USA.

New ammonia import & export terminals
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At Vlissingen in the Netherlands, Uniper & Vesta Terminals will explore the feasibility of developing a new ammonia import hub in northwest Europe, based on Vesta’s existing 60,000m3 ammonia storage facility. Also this week, Proton Ventures is currently developing a state-of-the-art ammonia export terminal for an oil & gas major in the UAE, which will feature the “biggest ammonia tanks ever built in the Middle East”.

KBR: ammonia-powered offshore drilling
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KBR, Odfjell, Equinor and Wärtsilä will all collaborate to study conversion of diesel generators on board semi-submersible, offshore drilling vessels to ammonia-fueled generators. On-board power for equipment and heavy machinery on these vessels is typically provided by fossil-fed generators. As fuel costs increase, operators are looking to new energy solutions including offshore wind and alternative fuels like hydrogen & ammonia.

Wärtsilä launches new multi-fuel maritime engine
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Wärtsilä has just launched its medium-speed, 4-stroke, Wärtsilä 25 engine, intended to be the first Wärtsilä engine to run on ammonia fuel. From 2023 a technology upgrade will be commercially available to allow the engine to run on alternative fuels like ammonia, with a fully-compliant NOx abatement system already available when running on fossil-based fuels. At the recent Australia conference, MAN ES reported that their two-stroke ammonia engine will be commercially available in 2024, with testing to commence next year.

More CCS projects announced for the US Gulf Coast
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New US CCS ammonia announcements include: a new million-tonne-per-year facility for OCI in Texas, a new $2 billion production facility for CF Industries and Mitsui & Co. in Louisiana, multi-million-tonnes-per-year of production output for JERA, ConocoPhillips and Uniper on the Gulf Coast spread over multiple export projects, and FID reached for OCI’s decarbonisation project in Iowa.

Renewable Fertilizers in Europe
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In our most recent episode of Ammonia Project Features, we explored the potential for renewable fertilizers in Europe. Birgitte Holder (Yara) explained that renewable hydrogen is low-hanging fruit for decarbonizing food production, but further emissions reduction will come from working across the full value chain: including on the farm itself. Yara’s agreement with agricultural cooperative Lantmannen is part of this wider focus. From a regulatory perspective, Theo Paquet (Fertilizers Europe) showed us there are many regulatory levers to pull to achieve decarbonization goals in the fertilizer sector, and that national food & energy security concerns may accelerate regulatory change in the coming years.

Yara & Northern Lights ink key CCS deal
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Yara and Northern Lights have signed the world’s first commercial agreement for cross border CO2 transport and storage. Emissions from the Sluiskil production plant in the Netherlands will be captured, processed and transported for sequestration at the Northern Lights storage site off the coast of Norway. Yara is pursuing multiple decarbonisation options for the Sluiskil plant, including this CCS announcement, waste hydrogen, and offshore wind-to-hydrogen as part of Ørsted’s larger SeaH2Land project.

Seven more projects for the Suez Canal Zone
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The number of renewable hydrogen-based projects planned for the Suez Canal Economic Zone has now reached fifteen. Of the seven new MoUs signed in late August, four are targeting renewable ammonia production. Saudi-based alfanar, African energy developer Globeleq, Mediterranean Energy Partners and renewable energy developer Actis are all planning renewable ammonia production plants, with ACME Group also signing an MoU for a multi-million tonne renewable hydrogen plant in the SCZONE.

India: renewable developments
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In Indian developments this week:

  • Avaada Group and the Rajasthan state government will jointly develop a $5 billion, million-tonne-per-year renewable ammonia plant in the city of Kota.
  • Multinational Larsen & Toubro has switched on a new renewable hydrogen plant for its Hazira manufacturing complex in Gujarat.
  • Korean steelmaker POSCO and Greenko have signed an MoU to cooperate in green hydrogen and ammonia production in India.
  • And at our recent Australia conference, IEEFA’s Kashish Shah outlined how renewable hydrogen & ammonia can relieve the burden of US$13 billion in subsidies paid every year to the fertiliser sector in India.