Located in Stade, Germany, the €1 billion Hanseatic Energy Hub will serve as an import terminal for LNG and subsequently ammonia. Project partners announced this month that they have reached FID, with operations to begin in 2027. HEH joins a long list of ammonia import terminals planned along Germany’s coastline.
The Canadian and German governments have agreed to establish a bilateral funding window for hydrogen derivative exports between the two countries. H2Global will conduct “coordinated supply and demand side auctions”, with ammonia-producing projects on Canada’s Atlantic coast likely frontrunners for funding. In related news, Pattern Energy, lead developer of one of these export projects, will work with Mabanaft to explore a renewable ammonia supply chain between Newfoundland and Hamburg.
More than €4.7 billion is now available to support the growth of hydrogen derivative imports to the EU. Via its implementation entity Hintco, H2Global has already launched a series of auctions to fund ten-year purchase agreements for methanol, ammonia and SAF.
ISCC PLUS-certified renewable ammonia from Fertiglobe will be used in a low-carbon laundry powder demonstration project by Unilever in India. In Germany, bio-ammonia produced by OCI Global (also ISCC PLUS-certified) will be used to produce methylmethacrylate, a key feedstock in PLEXIGLAS® production. The two announcements join a number of supply chains which have now incorporated low-carbon and renewable ammonia.
Horisont Energi has signed two offtake agreements for ammonia from its under-development Norwegian plant. German gas importer & wholesaler VNG will purchase between 100,000 - 300,000 tonnes per year to distribute to its German industrial customers. Local gas supplier Barents NaturGass intends to purchase 100,000 tonnes per year for distribution to customers around Hammerfest, including its potential use as transportation fuel.
Germany and the Netherlands have forged a groundbreaking new hydrogen partnership, doubling down on their common vision of a thriving European green hydrogen import market. The countries have announced a joint H2Global tender worth €600 million launching in 2024, as well as a plan to develop cross-border hydrogen infrastructure. Also this month, a new €4 billion commitment to Africa from Germany will act as the “starting signal” for deeper cooperation on hydrogen & renewable energy. Meanwhile, a recent Fraunhofer ISE study provides key insights into the export markets that are best equipped to meet this new demand.
German energy company EnBW has acquired a 10% equity stake in the SkiGA project, as well as securing long-term offtake rights to the renewable ammonia produced at the Norwegian facility. SkiGA will be completed in 2026, producing 100,000 tonnes per year of renewable ammonia.
Germany’s updated national hydrogen strategy forecasts that hydrogen demand in the country will skyrocket by 2045, including new demand for hydrogen and ammonia power generation. An auction process ending in 2026 will spur the construction of 4.4 GW of “sprinter” power plants around the country, generating electricity from pure hydrogen or ammonia. This will support the continued integration of renewable energy into Germany’s national grid.