The Ammonia Wrap: Japan developments, ammonia from wastewater, Fortescue’s new carbon-neutral goal, project updates from Australia and H2Pro
By on March 18, 2021
Welcome to the Ammonia Wrap: a summary of all the latest announcements, news items and publications about ammonia energy.
New Japanese developments
Itochu Corporation will lead a consortium of companies (including Ube Industries and Uyeno Transtech) in developing the infrastructure to supply ammonia as a marine fuel in Japan. They will also work together toward the construction and operation of ammonia-fueled ships. A similar agreement between Itochu and Vopak is already in place to develop marine ammonia infrastructure in Singapore.
Ship investment fund manager Anchor Ship Partners is launching a ¥600 billion fund to help decarbonise shipping in Japan. For now the company will focus on purchasing LNG vessels, but in the near future will shift its focus to hydrogen and ammonia-fueled vessels.
New AiP for ammonia-fueled vessel
Lloyd’s Register has awarded a new Approval in Principle to Exmar for development of a 40,000 m3 ammonia-fueled gas carrier. Jiangnan Shipyard was responsible for the ship design, while Wärtsilä Gas Solutions provided all input for the ammonia fuel gas supply system.
Singapore bunkering study
As mentioned in Steve Crolius’ feature article last week, A.P. Moller-Maersk, Keppel Offshore, Fleet Management, Yara and Sumitomo will all collaborate on a new feasibility study, with the goal of being the first to set up a “comprehensive and competitive supply chain for the provision of green ammonia” at Singapore, the worlds busiest bunkering port.
New ammonia from wastewater initiative
Organics Group, Coventry University and Severn Trent will collaborate on new research to turn sewage waste into clean hydrogen. Currently, water utility Severn Trent spends significant amounts destroying ammonia in its sewage waste to prevent environmental contamination, but the new initiative would see ammonia captured and transformed into hydrogen. Severn Trent alone could recover and repurpose 10,000 tonnes of clean ammonia annually from its wastewater treatment facilities in the UK. The research is part of the EU’s REWAISE Initiative, which aims to build carbon-neutral water cycles and develop circular economies in the water treatment sector. You can also access prior conference papers about the recovery (and utilisation) of ammonia from wastewater here.
Fortescue brings carbon neutrality goals forward to 2030
Fortescue Metals Group announced this week their Scope 1 and 2 carbon neutrality targets would be pushed forward a decade to 2030. To achieve the targets FMGL plans a massive build-out of renewable energy capacity: 300GW of potential has so far been identified, with a future expansion to 1,000GW in the pipeline. FMGL will also shift its focus to green hydrogen and green ammonia to power its vehicle fleet and operations, with a potential green ammonia production facility in Tasmania already earmarked.
Australian project updates for Hazer and H2U
The Hazer Group will begin site work on its low-carbon hydrogen production facility in Western Australia. Hazer’s novel pyrolysis process will utilise biogas (methane) from an adjacent wastewater treatment plant to produce low-carbon hydrogen, with possibility of ammonia being used as a hydrogen carrier. Hazer Group CEO Geoff Ward will be our feature guest at the April edition of Ammonia Energy Live – RSVP and submit your questions for Geoff about Hazer’s processes and future plans.
And two updates for the Hydrogen Utility. H2U has entered the next stage of project development for its Eyre Peninsula Gateway Project in South Australia. New green ammonia production facilities and upgrades to existing jetty export infrastructure could see the region become a major green hydrogen and ammonia exporter. In Queensland, H2U’s planned hydrogen facility (H2-Hub) has been given a major boost with Sumitomo signing an MoU with government and private partners to develop a “Hydrogen Ecosystem” around Gladstone – a major industrial center and future home of the H2-Hub. See our archives for more reporting on H2U’s Eyre Peninsula and Gladstone projects.
H2Pro updates from Israel
We’ve reported before on H2Pro’s developments in electrolysis technology, and this week the organisation secured $22 million in funding to move its technology from the lab to the factory floor. Breakthrough Energy Ventures and Sumitomo were among the major backers. You can read more about H2Pro’s E-TAC process (developed at Technion Israel) here.
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