Saudi-based ACWA Power and South Korean-based POSCO will join forces to develop new hydrogen and ammonia production projects, with an eye towards decarbonising POSCO’s power generation and steel making activities in South Korea. The pair are already significant players in the ammonia energy space, with POSCO setting ambitious goals for production & imports, and ACWA involved in multiple mega-projects in the Middle East.
Proton Ventures and the Mohammed VI Polytechnic University have signed an agreement to construct a demonstration-sized ammonia production plant at OCP’s existing manufacturing complex in Jorf Lasfar. The 4 tonne per day plant will be powered via an electrical load emulator, simulating the profiles of wind and solar generation at different geographical sites. The facility will act as a “reference unit” and “living laboratory”, allowing scale-up to larger industrial projects, further R&D and training for the future ammonia workforce.
Canada-based Hydrofuel has announced the acquisition of Lumos Laboratories, a Nigerian R&D organisation that has developed technology to convert urine to a hydrogen-rich, flammable gas mixture. The production of hydrogen, ammonia, fertilisers, cooking/heating fuels and electricity generation from Lumos technologies presents an opportunity to improve sanitation & reduce reliance on solid fuels for cooking and heating, and fossil fuels for electricity generation. Under the terms of the acquisition, Hydrofuel will support the commercialisation of this technology.
When it comes to ammonia energy & Australia, the persistent theme for a few years now has been exports, exports, exports. But, does a domestic hydrogen & ammonia industry present the opportunity for Australia to move on from a “dig and ship mentality”? Can Australia develop an equivalent of the METS industry, providing the expertise, technology and services required to get more projects up-and-running overseas?
To explore these big questions, we welcome a terrific discussion panel: Cindy Lim (Keppel Infrastructure), Olivia Brace (Advisian), and Tim Rogers (Trafigura Group), and chair Penelope Howarth (Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade). And - in the session before we launch into discussion - we will hear updates from some of our key ammonia energy allies in APAC. Shigeru Muraki (CFAA, Japan), Hyung Chul Yoon (KIER, Korea) and Kashish Shah (IEEFA, India) will dial-in virtually to present the latest from their home countries. Join us in-person or online, and purchase your tickets by this Friday 5 August to secure the extended early-bird rate.
Brazil’s largest fertiliser producer Unigel has launched the country’s first industrial-scale electrolytic hydrogen & ammonia project. 60 MW of grid-connected, thyssenkrupp nucera electrolysers will feed the production 60,000 tonnes per year of ammonia. An existing ammonia production plant in Camaçari, Bahia province will provide the foundation for the project, which seeks to leverage the high share of renewable electricity in Brazil’s national grid. In other South American news, Uruguay’s officially-released Green Hydrogen Roadmap sets out ambitious decarbonisation goals. Green ammonia has a role both as an export commodity and for domestic use.
