AM Green: production nears at India’s first renewable ammonia mega-project

In our latest episode of Project Features, we explored AM Green’s under-construction renewable ammonia project in Kakinada, India, as well as the wider renewable ammonia ecosystem emerging in India. Cyril Vanderheyden, Maruthi Ethakota & Shatanshu Agrawal (all AM Green), and Michael Samueli (Chemical Market Analytics) were joined in conversation by AEA Technology Manager Kevin Rouwenhorst. The recording is available on our website, and you can also download the speaker slides here.

India represents 8% of global ammonia production, but is also one of the world’s largest ammonia importers. According to the World Bank, 2.4 million tons of ammonia were imported into India in 2021. As India has significant potential for renewables, new renewable ammonia capacity is an opportunity for the country to export green hydrogen and/or green ammonia out of India, and also replace these imports.

AM Green’s AMGA-K1 Project

Click to enlarge. Overview and timeline of AM Green’s AMGA-K1 project. From Cyril Vanderheyden, Maruthi Ethakota & Shatanshu Agrawal, AM Green intro: AMGA-K1 project (Feb 2026).

AM Green is focused on producing renewable hydrogen and converting it into renewable ammonia at scale. AM Green is developing a portfolio of renewable ammonia plants in India across Kakinada, Tuticorin and Kandla with a targeted total production capacity of 4 million tons per year of renewable ammonia. The first plant of this portfolio (AMGA-K1, 1 million tons per year capacity) is under construction in Kakinada, Andhra Pradesh, and achieved the critical milestone of Final Investment Decision (FID) in 2024. The project reached another important milestone recently, as its first major equipment was erected, making it one of a select few large-scale, RFNBO-compliant renewable ammonia plants under construction globally, aiming for commercial ammonia supply in 2028.

Click to enlarge. AMGA-K1 project partners. From Cyril Vanderheyden, Maruthi Ethakota & Shatanshu Agrawal, AM Green intro: AMGA-K1 project (Feb 2026).

The AMGA-K1 project is a brownfield conversion of an existing, gas-based ammonia and urea production complex. The urea section is being dismantled, and the ammonia section will be converted to accommodate electrolysis-based hydrogen production. All major contracts have been awarded, and the project has received all key approvals.  Hydrogen production is based on John Cockerill’s pressurized alkaline electrolysis technology, a nitrogen generation unit has been sourced from Air Liquide, Casale provides the ammonia license, Greenko delivers the switchyard, Toyo builds the ammonia storage facility, and Rely acts as the EPCM of the project (a JV between Technip Energies and John Cockerill). The project helps secure over 600 local jobs and is expected to avoid around 2 million tons of CO₂ emissions annually once fully operational.

Click to enlarge. Greenko’s pumped hydro storage project in Pinnapuram. From Cyril Vanderheyden, Maruthi Ethakota & Shatanshu Agrawal, AM Green intro: AMGA-K1 project (Feb 2026).

AM Green has created a unique architecture for stable operations of the renewable ammonia plant based on integration of renewable energy capacity with long duration pumped hydro storage. By integrating ~4.5 GW of combined wind and solar capacity with Greenko’s pumped hydro plant at Pinnapuram, a “baseload” supply of renewable electricity will be transmitted to the facility. The 1.68 GW/ 10.8 GWh pumped hydro facility in Pinnapuram is in the same province (Andhra Pradesh), avoiding any issues with geographical correlation for RFNBO compliance. Combining renewables with pumped hydro storage allows the electrolyzers to operate at over 85% utilization rate, decreasing production costs.

With this architecture, AM Green obtained RFNBO pre-certification for AMGA-K1 in June 2024. In 2025, an MoU was also signed with the Port of Rotterdam towards the establishment of a renewable molecules corridor between India and North-Western Europe, via Rotterdam.

Renewable ammonia offtake by Uniper

AM Green has also secured offtake partnerships for the Kakinada project. In January 2026, it announced the signature of a long-term offtake agreement with Uniper for up to 500,000 tons per year of RFNBO-compliant ammonia starting from 2028, the first of its kind from India and perhaps, the largest in the world as on date.

Uniper has a series of agreements and initiatives underway in Europe for ammonia cracking and supply of RFNBO-compliant molecules for fertilizer & chemical manufacturing:

• thyssenkrupp Uhde is currently constructing a 28 tons per day ammonia cracker in Germany for Uniper, consuming almost 10,000 tons per year. The ammonia cracker is set to come online in early 2027. Initial ammonia supplies come from SKW Piesteritz (AGROFERT). Uniper and thyssenkrupp Uhde have signed a framework agreement for the construction of up to six large-scale ammonia cracking plants, consuming a combined 7,200 tons of ammonia per day.
• an MoU signed with SKW Piesteritz (AGROFERT). Uniper’s planned import terminal in Wilhelmshaven may be used for renewable ammonia supply to SKW Piesteritz, to decarbonize fertilizers and chemicals production in Germany. The Piesteritz site currently has over one million tons of annual ammonia production capacity, of which 530,000 tons serve non-urea products.
• AGROFERT will allow Uniper to use its European ammonia storage infrastructure, including the recently acquired terminal in Rotterdam. This fits into the MoU of AM Green and the Port of Rotterdam for a renewable molecules corridor between India and Europe.

India in the wider decarbonization context

Separate from the presentation by AM Green, Chemical Market Analytics provided insights on ammonia in India, specifically the SECI reverse auctions, export-based projects, and the potential for India as an ammonia bunkering hub.

Last year, the Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI) facilitated a series of renewable ammonia reverse auctions in India. On the basis of ten-year fixed contracts, Indian fertilizer producers will offtake 724,000 tons per year of renewable ammonia from domestic production projects. ACME secured over half of this capacity, with 370,00 tons per year. The average delivered price from the auctions was $609 per ton, with government subsidies under SIGHT program already included in the price, namely $106 per ton in the first year, $85 per ton in the second year, and $85 per ton in the third year, and additional subsidies from respective local government. The price is reflective of relatively higher carbon intensity (CI), annual matching between renewables and hydrogen production and early stage projects including some which are even today on conceptualization stage.

Click to enlarge. Global ammonia demand as a maritime fuel. From Michael Samueli, Ammonia (Feb 2026).

Requirements for export-oriented projects to Europe have more stringent CI and temporal matching requirements for RFNBO-compliant products, monthly till 2030 and hourly afterwards. As we know, various project developers other than AM Green are aiming to offtake to Europe (some already received pre-certification for RFNBO compliance), such as Avaada, Hygenco, Ocior Energy, and Sembcorp.

As renewable ammonia capacity in India scales up, and as the demand for ammonia as a maritime fuel increases, India may become a key ammonia bunkering hub. Current postponements at the IMO regarding the net-zero framework delay adoption. However, ammonia-fueled vessels are currently under construction, and these vessels could represent 1.0 million tons of ammonia fuel demand by 2028.