Mitsui OSK Lines, Mitsubishi, Chiyoda and the Electricity Generation Authority of Thailand will work together to build a clean hydrogen & ammonia value chain, with production based on renewable energy generation in southern Thailand. The MoU was signed on the sidelines of the official launch of the Asian Zero Emissions Community: a new region-wide initiative to drive the energy transition in Asia.

RWE, LOTTE, Mitsubishi will join forces to jointly develop a large-scale clean ammonia production & export project in the Port of Corpus Christi, Texas. At full size, the facility will produce 10 million tonnes per year of “green” and “blue” ammonia combined, to be exported to Europe and Asia. Also on the Gulf Coast, Linde will build, own and operate a CCS hydrogen & nitrogen production plant to supply gas feedstock to OCI’s world-scale ammonia facility in Beaumont, Texas.

Indonesia’s state-owned fertiliser manufacturer will join forces with Mitsubishi Corporation to explore the feasibility of hydrogen & ammonia supply chains in the country: both renewable and CCUS-based. The new partnership aims to reduce coal utilisation at existing thermal power plants via co-firing with ammonia, helping Indonesia to meet its emissions reduction targets.

Welcome to the Ammonia Wrap: a summary of all the latest announcements, news items and publications about ammonia energy. This week: green ammonia from Haldor Topsøe and Aquamarine, "Transhydrogen Alliance", Origin Energy signs deal with Korean steel maker POSCO, Japanese electric utilities move towards ammonia, new funding for CF Industries low-carbon fertiliser in the UK, Japanese partners to study Indonesian blue ammonia output and Namibia's national hydrogen & ammonia strategy.

Last week, Japan’s Ministry of Energy, Trade, and Industry (METI) announced the formation of a council to work on the implementation of ammonia as an energy commodity. The announcement came on the same day as a speech by Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga in which he established 2050 as the date certain for Japan to achieve carbon-neutrality. That was Monday October 26, 2020. The council held its first meeting on Tuesday October 27. The Council consists of four entities from the public sector and ten from the private sector. Members include companies that have previously been identified with the development of ammonia energy systems, including EPC firm JGC, capital goods manufacturer IHI, electric utility JERA, and shipping company NYK Line. The membership also reflects what appears to be the group’s central mission: positioning Japan as ammonia energy’s global leader via the dissemination of technology and the development of supply chains.

Japan’s Green Ammonia Consortium, an industry body dedicated to building “a value chain from supply to use of CO2-free ammonia,” launched its Web site on December 5. The site features plenty of interesting content, but most significant may be the roster of members. Eighty seven companies, public organizations, and individuals are listed. Taken together they represent a significant force for ammonia energy implementation in Japan and beyond.

In the last 12 months ... In July 2017, 19 companies and three research institutions came together to form the Green Ammonia Consortium. Before this development, it was unclear whether ammonia would find a significant role in Japan’s hydrogen economy. In the wake of this announcement, however, ammonia seems to have claimed the leading position in the race among potential energy carriers.

Chiyoda Corporation, the multinational chemical engineering firm that is arguably the leading proponent of the methyl cyclohexane (MCH) method of hydrogen transport, will start work this month on a project to demonstrate MCH technology in a real-world context.  As reported in a July 27 company press release, the project will involve the transportation of hydrogen from Brunei to Japan in what the company states is "the world's first global hydrogen supply chain demonstration project" -- an assertion that many ammonia energy proponents will no doubt find preposterous.