The Energy Bureau of Inner Mongolia has released plans for a common-user hydrogen pipeline infrastructure network throughout the region. This will support development of a series of renewable ammonia projects, and adds to the growing list of hydrogen pipeline projects across China. To transport the ammonia to key future demand centres (such as power plants and ports), ammonia pipelines may be the next step.
As part of a new agreement with the Spanish government, Envision Energy will develop a fully integrated green industrial park in Spain, producing key renewable technologies for renewable hydrogen projects in Europe. In Namibia, Envision and Zhero will collaborate on a 500,000 tons per year renewable ammonia plant, to be located near Walvis Bay.
China is keeping pace with IEA predictions for electrolyzer installations, with as much as 55% of the world’s total capacity to be installed there by 2028. Coupled with strong wind-power resources, domestic manufacturing capabilities and multiple economic drivers to transition away from coal-based ammonia production, China is ideally positioned to speed up the deployment of renewable ammonia projects.
The cost gap between fossil-based ammonia production and electrolysis-based ammonia production in China is arguably the smallest in the world. In our May episode of Ammonia Project Features, we explored two new, “flexible” renewable ammonia projects being developed in northeast China, as well as some of the engineering challenges as we scale-up electrolysis plants to gigawatt-sized.
Explore two flexible renewable ammonia production projects in China: Topsoe's in Baotou, and Envision Energy's in Chifeng City. We also welcome the Institute for Sustainable Process Technology to discuss the scale-up of electrolyzer plants to the GW-scale.
Flexible ammonia production technology is currently scaling up to meet the challenges of fluctuating electricity feedstock. The ability to ramp down plants to 5 - 10% of their nominal load will minimize the requirement for hydrogen storage buffers and reduce the overall cost of renewable ammonia production. The first demonstration-sized flexible ammonia plants are due to begin operations later this year.
Topse & Mintal Hydrogen will develop a dynamic, renewable ammonia plant in Baotou, China. Similar to Topsoe’s project in Skovgaard (Denmark), the electrolyser plant in Baotou will be directly connected to renewable energy generation, with production to begin in 2025.
Last month UN Climate Change announced an initiative whose goal is to scale up green hydrogen production significantly over the next six years. “The new ‘Green Hydrogen Catapult’ initiative will see green hydrogen industry leaders, including ACWA Power, CWP Renewables, Envision, Iberdrola, Ørsted, Snam, and Yara, target the deployment of 25 gigawatts through 2026 of renewables-based hydrogen production, with a view to halve the current cost of hydrogen to below US$2 per kilogram.”