A consortium of Danish and Indonesian companies - including Topsoe, Copenhagen Atomics, Pupuk and Pertamina - will collaborate to develop a 1 million tonnes per year, nuclear-powered ammonia project for fertiliser production in Bontang, Indonesia. Copenhagen Atomics’ thorium molten salt reactors will power 1 GW of solid oxide electrolysis capacity.
World Energy GH2’s Project Nujio’Qonik has a new partner, with SK ecoplant announcing a $50 million investment. Bloom Energy has also announced it will provide solid oxide electrolysis cells for the initial phase of the project. On the other side of Newfoundland, Pattern Energy is developing a renewable hydrogen & ammonia export facility at the Port of Argentia, with exports to Europe to begin from 2025.
Successful testing has been completed at IHI’s facilities in Ota, Japan. A four-stroke marine engine - fully integrated with exhaust gas aftertreatment and fuel supply systems - produced stable operations running on up to 80% ammonia fuel. Emissions of dinitrogen monoxide (N2O) and ammonia slip were reported as “virtually zero”.
Ammonia-powered vessels could be deployed on the iron ore trade routes between West Australia and East Asia from 2028, a new consortium study suggests. More than 20 vessels could be deployed on these routes by 2030, and over 360 by 2050. While ammonia fuel supply from Australia is unlikely to be a concern, validating the safety case for ammonia fuel, policy support to close the cost gap & industry-wide collaboration must all be established in time for deployment.
Solid oxide electrolysis has recently gained traction, and is fast becoming an attractive technology option for new ammonia production projects. This week we will explore a recent ISPT report, the scale-up of Topsoe’s manufacturing capacity, and several project announcements.
Norway-based North Ammonia will supply at least 100,000 tonnes per year of ammonia fuel to Höegh Autoliners from 2030, powering their future fleet of Aurora class car carriers. Grid-based electrolysis will feed production of ammonia in Eydehavn on Norway’s south coast, with bunkering to take place somewhere in the Amsterdam-Rotterdam Antwerp area. In more maritime ammonia news out of Norway this week, Skarv Shipping will receive government funding to develop cargo vessels featuring ammonia-powered, four-stroke engines.
New guidelines for Indian ports mandate the use of renewable energy in port operations, as well as the development of storage, handling and bunkering capabilities for future maritime fuels. All of India’s thirteen major ports must have ammonia bunkering & refueling facilities established by 2035, as well as making efforts to retrofit port crafts to run on future fuels.
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 start date for a renewable ammonia plant next to the Suez Canal in Egypt have all been announced in the last few weeks.
Key elements of Japan’s Green Transformation (GX) push have been unveiled, including policy support for the implementation of ammonia energy solutions, and a $1 trillion total public-private investment package. A subsidy scheme to address the price difference between hydrogen, ammonia and fossil fuels is included, with a nominal price tag of $36 billion, running into the 2030s.
To design, build & operate a hydroelectric ammonia production plant fed by electrolytic hydrogen, what considerations need to be taken into account? Our recent episode of Ammonia Project Features explored this question, focusing on an upcoming project being developed in Paraguay by ATOME, URBAS and Casale. The use of surplus hydropower, existing industrial infrastructure, proactive engineering and commercially-available, flexible ammonia synthesis technologies all adds up to a less challenging task for developers, and a potential project template going forward.