Talus Renewables: modular, renewable fertilizers in Kenya & Iowa
By on October 16, 2023
US-based Talus Renewables has deployed its modular, containerised ammonia & fertiliser production system in Kenya. According to a report in Bloomberg, a 15 year off take agreement has already been signed with Kenya Nut. Located just outside the capital Nairobi, the new Talus Renewables plant will use power from an on-site solar farm to produce 1 tonne per day of fertiliser. Talus has also designed a 10 tonne per day facility (requiring 11.5 MW of solar power input), and Kenya Nut plans for larger plants to eventually be deployed and supply nearly all of its daily fertiliser needs.
You deliver a few shipping containers to a rural farming community, plug it up to…a lot of power and a little bit of water, and produce a…carbon-free ammonia fertilizer that can reduce the cost of that fertilizer by 40%… If you think about it, especially (for) the subsistence farmer, which is still 60% of the population across Sub-Saharan Africa, getting access to a reliable, inexpensive, and in this case, carbon-free fertilizer is a huge step in their food security crisis.
Talus Renewables Co-founder and CEO, Hiro Iwanaga, interviewed on the Climate Now podcast
The Bloomberg report also indicates that Talus is seeking to set up its plants in a number of locations across Africa and in the US, and an agreement has already been signed with Iowa-based Landus Cooperative. There is also the possibility for the system to be deployed for explosives manufacturing, and Talus plans to work with mining companies.
