Renewable ammonia in Vietnam

The Green Solutions (TGS)

Vietnamese renewable energy project developer The Green Solutions (TGS) has signed agreements with a number of key players to develop a renewable hydrogen & ammonia production plant in Tra Vinh, Vietnam. The design will feature 240 MW of electrolyser capacity. Initially to be powered by green electricity credits from the Vietnamese national grid, TGS intends the plant to have a production capacity of over 200,000 tonnes of renewable ammonia per year for export. Operations are expected to begin in 2024.

“Jettyless” ammonia export

Norway-based ECONNECT Energy is performing pre-FEED work and has signed an EPC contract to construct and install a “jettyless IQuay” to deliver green ammonia from the onshore plant to vessels moored offshore. Transfer is via a series of floating cryogenic hoses, with a range of distances and terminal configurations available. In 2017 ECONNECT pioneered the world’s first jettyless LNG transfer, and the IQuay is designed to work with liquid CO₂ and ammonia.

The low-footprint design of the IQuay is the perfect solution to overcome the challenges of the region’s shallow waters, enabling the marine-based export of green ammonia.

ECONNECT Energy CEO Morten Christophersen in his organisation’s official press release, 28 Apr 2022

thyssenkrupp, Black & Veatch

TGS has also signed agreements with:

• thyssenkrupp, who will support the development of Tra Vinh, signing a cooperation agreement for ongoing ammonia production through to 2050.
• And Black & Veatch, who will study renewable hydrogen & ammonia production via wind or solar electricity supplied through Vietnam’s national grid. The findings – and optimised plant designs – will help steer development of the Tra Vinh plant.

Enterprize Energy: offshore wind-to-X in Vietnam

Singapore-based Enterprize Energy is developing a significant offshore wind project in Binh Thuan province, a few hundred kilometers north up Vietnam’s coast. Enterprize aims for 600 MW of the Thang Long project to be constructed by 2023, with a final capacity of 3.4 GW installed turbines. A renewable hydrogen production target of 330,000 tonnes per year – which converts to more than 1.5 million tonnes of ammonia – is being set for Thang Long.

The developers intend for the Thang Long project to serve both as an electricity generator for the onshore grid and Power-to-X mega-project. To achieve the both elements, Enterprize and German engineering firm Tractebel Overdick are developing a “one-stop shop” marine platform for electricity, hydrogen and ammonia production:

The 400MW platform atop a jacket foundation could send power to the grid, but would also house onboard electrolysers to produce renewable hydrogen for export via pipelines and associated technology for ammonia production that can be collected by tanker.

‘One-stop’ offshore wind platform for green hydrogen and ammonia planned, 21 Jan 2021

Vietnam has an enormous opportunity to harness offshore wind to meet its energy needs – mid-term, and in the coming decades. But this potential goes beyond simply generating electricity for the grid. There is potential – by taking a holistic, joined-up approach – to look at how that energy can be converted to green hydrogen or green ammonia, stored, used to decarbonise energy-intensive industry, and exported to localised markets.

Enterprize Energy Chairman Ian Hatton in Offshore wind developer Enterprize Energy and the Vietnamese Institute of Energy have teamed for a study assessing “green hydrogen’s potential to supercharge Vietnam’s energy capabilities, 25 Dec 2021