Article

China Energy: foreign investments in ammonia

State-owned enterprise China Energy has announced new ammonia initiatives in three countries, with a reported budget of $20 billion to invest outside China over the next few years. A partnership with Petrobras in Brazil, construction of a new renewable ammonia mega-project in Morocco, and a construction state date for a renewable ammonia plant next to the Suez Canal in Egypt have all been announced in the last few weeks.

Article

Fertiliser giant OCP Group to go fully renewable, eliminate ammonia imports to Morocco

In a ceremony before King Mohammed VI of Morocco, OCP Group presented a new, green investment plan for 2023-27. The $13 billion plan will see OCP install 5 GW of renewable energy by 2027, completely powering their fertiliser manufacturing operations. A production target of one million tonnes per year renewable ammonia (also by 2027) will see OCP make serious headway into replacing its ammonia imports into Morocco with locally-made feedstock, improving food & energy security.

Article

Gigawatt-scale renewable ammonia in Northwest Africa

In our November episode of Ammonia Project Features we explored two gigawatt-sized ammonia production projects in Northwest Africa: AMUN (Morocco) and AMAN (Mauritania). Nouri Chahid (CWP Global) presented project details, while Lloyd Pinnell (Systemiq) explored the socio-economic impacts of AMAN in Mauritania. If developed in the right way, AMAN could provide potable water, access to cheap renewable electricity, significant local employment & education opportunities, as well as the opportunity to build institutions to best manage new economic windfalls.

Article

Proton Ventures partners with UM6P for renewable ammonia demonstration plant in Morocco

Proton Ventures and the Mohammed VI Polytechnic University have signed an agreement to construct a demonstration-sized ammonia production plant at OCP’s existing manufacturing complex in Jorf Lasfar. The 4 tonne per day plant will be powered via an electrical load emulator, simulating the profiles of wind and solar generation at different geographical sites. The facility will act as a “reference unit” and “living laboratory”, allowing scale-up to larger industrial projects, further R&D and training for the future ammonia workforce.

Article

CWP Global taps Bechtel to help develop African ammonia projects

CWP Global has selected US-based engineering organisation Bechtel to support the development of large-scale green hydrogen and ammonia facilities in northwest Africa. CWP Global is leading development of two Supergiants in the region: the AMAN project in Mauritania (renewable ammonia), and the AMUN project in Morocco (renewable fertilisers). In other engineering news, Total Eren has selected UK-based Wood to develop the production complex for its H2 Magallanes project. Wood is already engaged in two significant blue ammonia projects (Al Ruwais, UAE, and the Barents Blue project in Norway).

Article

Green ammonia in Morocco: an update

A key green ammonia project was affected by Morocco's suspension of diplomatic relations with Germany in March 2021, and has been forced to proceed slowly, without any interactions with its German partners. The cooperation agreement between phosphate & fertiliser giant OCP, German research institute Fraunhofer and the Moroccan Institute for Research in Solar Energy and New Energies (IRESEN) aimed to replicate Fraunhofer's pilot green hydrogen plant in Ben Guerir, Morocco. Although Ireland-based Fusion Fuel stepped into the void with a deal to develop a 183,000 tonnes per year green ammonia plant in Rabat, the transition is far from guaranteed. In his new publication, Professor Michaël Tanchum (Middle East Institute) argues renewable ammonia represents a unique opportunity for Morocco a "vicious" cycle into a "virtuous" one, and should be a priority for the country and the international community.

Article

The Ammonia Wrap: World Bank boosts hydrogen and ammonia as future fuels, new coalition for bunker ammonia, and cracking at the Wilhelmshaven hydrogen hub

Welcome to the Ammonia Wrap: a summary of all the latest announcements, news items and publications about ammonia energy. This week: the World Bank sees hydrogen and ammonia as key to decarbonising shipping, a new coalition for safe ammonia bunkering, Trafigura co-sponsors MAN's development of ammonia-fueled maritime engines, cracking plant a feature of the new Wilhelmshaven hydrogen hub, RWE and H2U to develop global hydrogen trading between Australia and Germany, Province Resources' West Australian mega-project grows to 8GW and South Africa's Hydrogen Society Roadmap a step closer.