The overall goal of reaching production levels of 5 million tonnes of green hydrogen per year is driven by the government's desire to reduce the country's reliance on energy imports. Hydrogen & ammonia are the keys to unlocking this new, fossil-free future.
ArcelorMittal, Enagás, Grupo Fertiberia and DH2 Energy will lead development of the world's largest integrated renewable and competitive hydrogen hub in northwest Spain. Production is due to begin in 2025, with the full-sized project reaching 9.5 GW of solar power and 7.4 GW of installed electrolysers by 2030.
Amongst other uses, green hydrogen from HyDeal España will be used to make green ammonia for Fertiberia’s nearby fertiliser production plant in Avilés. This means that four out of Fertiberia’s ten Spanish production centers all have green ammonia projects in progress.
Japanese power utility JERA has launched an international bidding process to procure 500,000 tonnes per year of fuel ammonia, starting in 2027 and running into the 2040s.
Eurasia Mining and H4Energy will develop two hydrogen/ammonia export projects at either end of Russia. The Kola Green Hydrogen Project in Murmansk (far west) seeks to take advantage of cheap, abundant zero-carbon energy, combined with easy access to key shipping routes. On Sakhalin Island (far east) a new, wind-powered P2X facility is being explored.
Aker Clean Hydrogen and Kuehne+Nagel are joining forces to offer a “green container shipping” service for their cargo customers. The pair report that they are already in advanced discussions with ship owners.
Bakken Energy, Mitsubishi Power Americas and MHA Nation have signed a new MoU for the redevelopment of the Great Plains Synfuel Plant: an existing ammonia production facility (>400,000 tonnes per year) near Beulah, North Dakota. The $2 billion facility will be renamed the Great Plains Hydrogen Hub, and is expected to be operational by 2027, producing 348,000 tonnes per year of hydrogen via ATR and CCS.
The South China Morning Post reports that China Energy Investment Corporation has successfully demonstrated co-firing 35% ammonia with coal at a power generation unit in Shandong Province. Further technical details emerged from additional Chinese media outlets, including that the pilot test occurred in a 40 MW coal boiler at the Huaneng Yantai coal power plant, and that NOx emissions were reportedly lower than burning pure coal fuel.
Yara and Lantmännen - northern Europe's leading agricultural cooperative who own multiple food brands - have signed a world-first agreement for the marketing & distribution of fossil-free fertilisers from 2023.
GenCell Energy has announced its ammonia-fed, off-grid power generation system will be widely available to commercial customers next year, with a select number of units to be deployed in 2022. The GenCell FOX™ is an updated version of the A5™ containerised system, and is designed for use in the telecom sector: especially for remote installations with no access to grid power and which need to operate in harsh weather conditions.
This week Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (via subsidiary Mitsubishi Shipbuilding) & Mitsui O.S.K. Lines completed a joint study on the use of floating storage and regasification units (FSRU) for ammonia bunkering. FSRUs open up a suite of new options for future bunkering setups - particularly power generation applications.