The Ammonia Wrap: 30 GW Power-to-X project in Mauritania and more
By on June 01, 2021
Welcome to the Ammonia Wrap: a summary of all the latest announcements, news items and publications about ammonia energy.
30 GW Power-to-X project in Mauritania
CWP Global will lead development of a new Power-to-X mega project in Mauritania, with green hydrogen and its derivatives to be exported to global markets. The AMAN project will be located on a 8,500 km2 desert site in the country’s north, and will tap into Mauritania’s huge potential of renewable energy resources. The official government press release also gave an interesting perspective on the scale of mega-projects required to try and meet Paris goals and limit global heating to 1.5 degrees: 80 “AMAN equivalents” will be needed for global green steel production, 50-70 AMANs for green, long-range shipping and 15 AMANs to decarbonise global fertiliser production.
Green hydrogen and ammonia in Egypt
A new MoU between the government and thyssenkrupp will explore the possibility of building a green hydrogen and ammonia production facility in Egypt, with the aim of exporting the “eco-friendly substances” to Germany. This comes after a separate agreement with Siemens was signed in January this year to start feasibility work into a green hydrogen pilot plant in the country.
€8 billion for 62 hydrogen projects in Germany
62 projects with a combined capacity of 2 GW will receive state backing from the German government, with the ultimate aim of unlocking billions of Euros in private investment. From a shortlist of 230, the final 62 projects cover the entire value chain of the hydrogen market, with ammonia-associated projects including RWE’s HyTechHafen-Rostock, BASF’s Ludwigshafen and the Aquaventus Initiative. All active German steelmakers and some of the country’s biggest chemical producers submitted projects for consideration – a great sign that demand for green hydrogen and derivatives will grow rapidly in the coming years.
Cummins’ electrolyser gigafactory in Spain
Cummins is currently selecting a site in Castilla-La Mancha, Spain that will be the home for its new €50 million PEM electrolyzer plant. Initially producing 500 MW/year of electrolyser units, the plant will be scalable to 1 GW/year. This latest announcement is part of an ongoing, evolving partnership with Spanish utility Ibredrola for operations in the country, which also includes provision of electrolysers for Ibredrola’s 230 MW green hydrogen project in Palos de la Frontera, which aims to decarbonise fertiliser production at Fertiberia’s ammonia plant in the Spanish town. And all this is on top of the ongoing partnership between Ibredrola and Fertiberia, whose flagship solar-to-ammonia project in Puertollano was launched last year (and reported on by Ammmonia Energy)!
Ammonia engine development in Portugal
A new collaboration between the University of Lisbon, MIT and the Polytechnic Institute of Portalegre aims to produce a proof-of-concept for a 100% ammonia-fueled internal combustion engine – a breakthrough the collaborators see as key to decarbonising mobility within cities. The “BICEF” group recently released a review study into the opportunities and roadblocks to developing ammonia ICE engines.
Shchekinoazot gets a new decarbonisation partner
And the recent agreement between Haldor Topsoe and Shchekinoazot has a new collaborator, with Stamicarbon coming on board to explore decarbonisation opportunities and green technology for chemical production in Russia.
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