Construction underway for ammonia-to-hydrogen demonstrator in Birmingham, UK

Construction is underway for the Ammogen project, a 200kg per day ammonia to hydrogen demonstrator project which received £6.7m in funding from the UK’s Department of Energy and Next Zero last year.

Located at Tyseley Energy Park (TEP), a strategic energy and resource hub in the West Midlands, the project will convert renewable ammonia into hydrogen, which will be fed into a co-located hydrogen fueling station.

H2Site will supply its proprietary ammonia cracking technology for the project. The technology features a “unique palladium based membrane technology that can produce fuel cell purity hydrogen in one step using a containerised, modular” reactor. The project will be one of H2Site’s first deployment of the ammonia cracking technology.

Other members of the Ammogen consortium include professional services group Gemserv, technical services and EPC provider Equans, ammonia industry giant Yara and the University of Birmingham.

The Ammogen project aims to “improve the efficiency and economics of ammonia cracking” and “position ammonia cracking within UK political thinking”. The UK government has committed to have 10 GW of hydrogen capacity by 2030.

Ammonia could be the carrier to unlock green hydrogen and production globally. Gemserv is pleased to be working with our market leading consortium partners and Government in this project and hope to add to both the local community in Birmingham and our nation’s drive to Net Zero.

Alex Goody, Gemserv Chief Executive quoted in “Ammogen announces milestone of its ammonia to hydrogen demonstrator site”, H2View, 22 May 2023

This innovative project is laying the foundations for the wider hydrogen economy and the path towards a green industrial revolution.

James Graham, Divisional CEO for Equans UK & Ireland quoted in “Ammogen announces milestone of its ammonia to hydrogen demonstrator site”, H2View, 22 May 2023

Cracking in the UK

Ammonia cracking technology projects have been gaining momentum in the UK as renewable hydrogen is seen as an important part of the country’s future energy mix, targeting a range of applications including stationary power storage, long haul transportation and the maritime industry. Announced projects include:

• A renewable energy hub at the Port of Shoreham in West Sussex for the use of hydrogen fuel in the Port’s fleet (forklifts and trucks), and an ammonia import facility to allow larger scale ammonia-to-hydrogen conversion to meet hydrogen fuel demand in the area.
• Announced last year, at the Port of Immingham in the UK’s east coast, Air Products and Associated British Products will develop an ammonia import and cracking facility for hydrogen production for the industrial and heavy transport sectors.
• In a partnership between EET and Stanlow Terminals, existing ammonia storage facilities will be expanded to allow the importation of more than one million tonnes of ammonia per year from Gujarat in India. The expansion will include an ammonia cracking facility for hydrogen production, which will be fed into a vehicle refuelling hub.
• Last year, in Newcastle, Siemens Energy, Fortescue Future Industries and GeoPura began work to develop a £3.5m commercial ammonia cracker prototype which will deliver 200 kg of hydrogen per day, based on Fortescue’s ‘Metal Membrane Technology’.
• In March this year, AFC Energy launched its ammonia cracker technology platform to enable commercial scale renewable hydrogen generation, targeting off-grid applications such as maritime and stationary power.
• In 2021 at COP26 in Glasgow, a joint venture was launched by Reaction Engines, IP Group and the Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC) for the development of lightweight, modular ammonia cracking reactors for the aviation, shipping and off-grid power generation industries.