Pilbara renewable ammonia project reaches key milestones

FID reached on Project YURI

ENGIE recently announced it has successfully reached a final investment decision on Project Yuri. The collaboration with Yara will see renewable hydrogen feedstock produced next door to Yara’s existing ammonia & fertiliser production facility in Karratha, Western Australia, and fed into the plant, displacing 640 tonnes of fossil-based hydrogen per year in its first phase (this equates to about 0.4% of the hydrogen consumed annually by Yara Pilbara Fertilisers). Last year Project Yuri received two significant funding boosts: AU$2 million from the West Australian state government, and AU$47.5 million from ARENA, Australia’s national renewable energy body.

The Yuri project includes a 10 MW electrolyzer, 18 MW of solar PV and battery storage. Once completed, the project will be one of Australia’s largest electrolysers, capable of producing up to 640 tonnes of green hydrogen each year.

Yuri Operations Pty Ltd will build the renewable hydrogen facility and supply the green hydrogen to Yara Clean Ammonia. The construction is scheduled to commence later this year in October 2022. The renewable hydrogen production is scheduled to commence and be supplied to the ammonia plant in 2024.

Project Yuri details, from Yara’s official press release, 15 Sep 2022

Beginning with 10 MW, electrolysis capacity will be scaled up to 500 MW and beyond by 2030, and will be complemented by the construction of a new 800,000 tonnes per year ammonia plant.

A new stakeholder & EPCC contract awarded

Also announced recently, Mitsui & Co. will take a 28% interest stake in Project Yuri, contributing to the green-light FID decision from ENGIE. On the engineering side, Technip Energies leads a consortium that has been awarded an Engineering, Procurement, Construction and Commissioning (EPCC) contract. Technip will lead development of the electrolysis facility, while Monford Group will lead development & construction of the solar PV farm.

Pre-certification granted

And via the Smart Energy Council’s Zero Carbon Certification Scheme (of which the AEA is a founding partner), Project Yuri has been granted pre-certification for its renewable hydrogen & ammonia production. Bureau Veritas performed the technical assessments.

Achieving certification provides certainty to our customers and confidence in the emerging green hydrogen industry. Customers want to know how it is made and how big the greenhouse footprint is.

Yara Clean Ammonia Business Development Director Leigh Holder in the Smart Energy Council’s official press release, 16 Sept 2022