Site items in: Infrastructure

Preparing Japan for ammonia imports
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IHI will explore the conversion of existing LNG import terminals into ammonia import facilities, allowing gas-fired power plants direct access to ammonia fuel. Mitsubishi Shipbuilding and INPEX have completed a conceptual design for a “highly flexible” ammonia bunkering vessel, putting another key piece of ammonia import infrastructure on the path to commercialisation.

New funding for Australian export projects
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ATCO Australia’s ScaleH2 ammonia export project in NSW will receive funding from both the Australian and German governments. Feasibility work will begin on the 800,000 tonnes-per-year ammonia plant, also being developed by NSW Powerfuels. The announcement comes as the two-year HySupply project released its final report, and a new government-level MoU was signed to develop an export supply chain from Australia to Rotterdam.

Technology status: ammonia production from electrolysis-based hydrogen
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Electrolysis-based ammonia production peaked worldwide around 1970, before the economies of scale and cheap gas feedstock led to its decline. With decarbonization and climate-neutral industrial processes now a critical priority, electrolysis-based ammonia production has re-emerged as a long-term solution. From a base of 10,000 tonnes per year worldwide production in 2020, as much as 100 million tonnes per year of electrolysis-based ammonia could be produced by the end of this decade, driven by a dramatic roll-out of renewable energy generation and installed electrolyzer capacity.

Maritime ammonia: fuel cell propulsion systems, car carriers & bunkering in Germany
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In maritime ammonia updates this week:

  • Alma Clean Power’s containerised SOFC system design has been granted AiP by DNV. A 2 MW, ammonia-fed system will be used to retrofit the Viking Energy vessel as part of the ShipFC project.
  • Grimaldi Group has increased its order for ammonia-ready car carriers to fifteen. China Merchants Heavy Industries will construct the 9,000 car equivalent units design at Jiangsu shipyards, delivering the first vessels in 2025.
  • Mabanaft and Hapag-Lloyd will explore the supply of ammonia bunker fuel to Hapag’s vessels at the Port of Hamburg (Germany), and the Port of Houston (USA).
  • and the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action will fund the construction of three, future-proof LNG bunker vessels, which are designed to be upgraded to handle ammonia fuel.

New ammonia import infrastructure under development across Europe (and beyond)
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New import terminals, energy hubs, bunker facilities & upgrades to existing ammonia storage facilities are underway across Europe. This week, we explore new project announcements in Wilhelmshaven, Brunsbüttel, Rotterdam and Immingham. We visit Taiwan for another ammonia import terminal announcement, and look at a new partnership between thyssenkrupp and ADNOC to deploy large-scale cracking - the “last piece of the puzzle” for global ammonia trading.

Maritime ammonia developments in South Korea, Japan
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In this week’s maritime ammonia news:

  • Hyundai Heavy Industries, Lloyd’s Register and Korea National Oil Corporation have signed a new agreement to jointly develop an ammonia floating storage and regasification unit, or FSRU.
  • KSS Line and Samsung C&T will cooperate to establish a clean hydrogen/ammonia transportation service, powered by alternative fuels.
  • In Japan, K Line has announced ammonia will underpin its decarbonisation strategy to 2050, with AiP granted for a new Newcastlemax bulk carrier design.
  • And the first of two CCU ammonia shipments have reached Ulsan from Saudi Arabia, with importer Lotte Fine Chemical leading development of a clean ammonia supply chain in the Yellow Sea.

How to build a green shipping corridor
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COP27 saw an exciting number of green shipping corridor announcements. But the question remains: how do we actually build them? Earlier this year, the Maersk McKinney Møller Centre for Zero Carbon Shipping launched a Feasibility Phase Blueprint, setting out some key assessment criteria to consider. At the recent annual AEA conference in Phoenix, we took a group of sixty participants through the criteria, asking how and where the ammonia sector should engage.

Trinidad & Tobago launches roadmap to decarbonise hydrogen & ammonia production
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Trinidad & Tobago’s National Energy Corporation, the Inter-American Development Bank and KBR have released their findings on how to establish a market for renewable hydrogen in the Caribbean country. Underpinned by a stepwise development of 57 GW of offshore wind power potential, the country could completely displace fossil-based hydrogen with renewable hydrogen in 2052. The 4 million tonnes-per-year production potential would meet industrial demands and lay the foundation for a significant export industry, potentially transforming Trinidad & Tobago into a global energy hub.