Safety approvals for ammonia energy in Norway, Netherlands

Yara, Azane receive safety permit for ammonia bunker terminal

The pair have received safety approval from Norway’s Directorate for Civil Protection to construct their first ammonia bunker facility at Fjord Base in Florø, Norway. The terminal will consist of one of Azane’s floating ammonia bunker barges, which will be moored in place. The barge will have a capacity of 650 tons of ammonia, and the permit allows for up to 416 bunker transfers annually. Yara and Azane expect the majority of these operations to cater for offshore supply vessels that regularly call at Fjord Base.

This marks a milestone for ammonia as a fuel. Now we finally know with certainty the safety zones we will have to operate under when bunkering ammonia. The required safety zones are very encouraging and demonstrate how it will be possible to bunker ammonia in the biggest and busiest ports around the world.

Steinar Kostøl, VP Projects & Products, Azane in Yara’s official press release, 25 Mar 2024

This acknowledges how ammonia can be used safely and efficiently as a shipping fuel at the site in Kinn. The ammonia terminal will enable the decarbonization of the maritime sector and showcase ammonia’s assets as a zero-emission shipping fuel. We look forward to working together with our partners and the local community in Kinn to complete the project and provide the shipping fuel for the future to the Norwegian offshore supply segment.

Magnus Ankarstrand, President Yara Clean Ammonia in his organisation’s official press release, 25 Mar 2024

Ammonia-fueled offshore/platform supply vessels are being pursued by a number of maritime players in Norway, including Azane affiliate Amon Maritime, the ShipFC project (Viking Energy), Eidesvik Offshore and Wärtsilä, the Blaavinge consortium, and of course Amogy (whose ammonia-to-power propulsion systems will be used in the bunker barges). Fortescue’s retrofitted supply vessel the Fortescue Green Pioneer recently completed its first ammonia fuel demonstration in Singapore harbor.

OCI receives EPA approval for large-scale storage in Rotterdam

In the Netherlands, DCMR (the Dutch EPA) has granted a permit to OCI Global to construct a 60,000 ton ammonia storage tank in Rotterdam (Dutch language). In granting the permit, DCMR has applied guidelines that will be included in the updated version of PGS-12, the Netherlands’ national ammonia storage and loading regulations (Dutch language). The updated version is the result of more than twelve month’s work from a joint government-industry working group, some of whose findings we explored at last year’s Ammonia Energy Conference (presentation materials here, here and here).

The original version lacked clarity for large-scale ammonia storage projects like OCI is planning, hindering progress. New requirements for large-scale ammonia tanks in the Netherlands will include design elements like double steel walls and concrete outer walls.