Fertiberia recently opened its first renewable ammonia production project in Puertollano, with Nel supplying 20 MW of PEM electrolyzer units to produce renewable hydrogen feedstock.
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First Ammonia announces deal for 5GW of Topsoe electrolysers
US-based First Ammonia has announced a new reservation deal with Topsoe for delivery of solid-oxide electrolysers. Initially, First Ammonia will purchase 500 MW of SOECs from Topsoe’s new manufacturing plant in Herning, Denmark, with the option to expand to 5 GW over the lifetime of the agreement. That initial 500 MW will be deployed over two First Ammonia production projects, both targeting commercial operations in 2025: one in northern Germany, and one in southwest USA.
New ammonia import & export terminals
At Vlissingen in the Netherlands, Uniper & Vesta Terminals will explore the feasibility of developing a new ammonia import hub in northwest Europe, based on Vesta’s existing 60,000m3 ammonia storage facility. Also this week, Proton Ventures is currently developing a state-of-the-art ammonia export terminal for an oil & gas major in the UAE, which will feature the “biggest ammonia tanks ever built in the Middle East”.
KBR: ammonia-powered offshore drilling
KBR, Odfjell, Equinor and Wärtsilä will all collaborate to study conversion of diesel generators on board semi-submersible, offshore drilling vessels to ammonia-fueled generators. On-board power for equipment and heavy machinery on these vessels is typically provided by fossil-fed generators. As fuel costs increase, operators are looking to new energy solutions including offshore wind and alternative fuels like hydrogen & ammonia.
Ohmium to provide electrolysers for low-carbon fertiliser plant in Mexico
Ohmium will deliver electrolysers to Tarafert to integrate into their new build ammonia & urea plant in Durango, northern Mexico. The ammonia plant is CCS-based, but an electrolyser facility & 1 GW solar farm will be built next door to give plant operators two different sources of low-carbon hydrogen feedstock: one CCS-based, and the other solar-based.
Wärtsilä launches new multi-fuel maritime engine
Wärtsilä has just launched its medium-speed, 4-stroke, Wärtsilä 25 engine, intended to be the first Wärtsilä engine to run on ammonia fuel. From 2023 a technology upgrade will be commercially available to allow the engine to run on alternative fuels like ammonia, with a fully-compliant NOx abatement system already available when running on fossil-based fuels. At the recent Australia conference, MAN ES reported that their two-stroke ammonia engine will be commercially available in 2024, with testing to commence next year.
More CCS projects announced for the US Gulf Coast
New US CCS ammonia announcements include: a new million-tonne-per-year facility for OCI in Texas, a new $2 billion production facility for CF Industries and Mitsui & Co. in Louisiana, multi-million-tonnes-per-year of production output for JERA, ConocoPhillips and Uniper on the Gulf Coast spread over multiple export projects, and FID reached for OCI’s decarbonisation project in Iowa.