Site items in: Africa

Total: renewable ammonia production in Egypt
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Total has signed a new MoU with the General Authority for Suez Canal Economic Zone (SCZONE) to develop a renewable ammonia project in Ain Sokhna, Egypt. The first phase targets production of 300,000 tonnes of renewable ammonia per year. SCZONE is now involved with six renewable hydrogen-based projects near the Suez Canal totaling more than $10 billion in investment, and featuring about 1.5 million tonnes of renewable ammonia production in the first phase (expanding to at least 6 million tonnes per year).

CWP Global taps Bechtel to help develop African ammonia projects
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CWP Global has selected US-based engineering organisation Bechtel to support the development of large-scale green hydrogen and ammonia facilities in northwest Africa. CWP Global is leading development of two Supergiants in the region: the AMAN project in Mauritania (renewable ammonia), and the AMUN project in Morocco (renewable fertilisers). In other engineering news, Total Eren has selected UK-based Wood to develop the production complex for its H2 Magallanes project. Wood is already engaged in two significant blue ammonia projects (Al Ruwais, UAE, and the Barents Blue project in Norway).

Green maritime fuels next to the Suez Canal
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A series of new announcements illustrates the growing importance of Egypt, the Suez Gulf and the area designated the Suez Canal Economic Zone to the ammonia energy transition:

  • Masdar and a series of public & private partners plan a 4 GW electrolyser capacity, 2.3 million tonnes per year renewable ammonia export project in Ain Sokhna, with the first stage to focus on methanol production for bunker fuel.
  • The General Authority for Suez Canal Economic Zone (SCZONE) has signed deals for two smaller maritime fuel production plants, one with French organisation EDF Renewables and the other with UAE-based EMEA Power.
  • And Maersk will explore potential for large-scale green maritime fuel production near the Suez Canal, committing to off take in a new deal with SCZONE and government partners.

World-scale green ammonia production in Egypt
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Scatec will partner with a series of Egyptian government entities to develop a green ammonia plant in Ain Sokhna, adjacent to the Suez Canal. The project partners have already indicated that the one million per year facility could be expanded in the future to a production capacity of three million tonnes of green ammonia. Growing green ammonia markets in European & Asia are being targeted as export destinations.

South Africa launches Hydrogen Society Roadmap
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Four "catalytic" projects will provide momentum for the new roadmap, driving the rollout of at least 15 GW of electrolysis capacity between them by 2040. Ammonia is a feature of all these kick-off projects, and the government sees ammonia's primary role in the transition as decarbonising energy-intensive industries in South Africa.

Green ammonia in Morocco: an update
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A key green ammonia project was affected by Morocco's suspension of diplomatic relations with Germany in March 2021, and has been forced to proceed slowly, without any interactions with its German partners. The cooperation agreement between phosphate & fertiliser giant OCP, German research institute Fraunhofer and the Moroccan Institute for Research in Solar Energy and New Energies (IRESEN) aimed to replicate Fraunhofer's pilot green hydrogen plant in Ben Guerir, Morocco. Although Ireland-based Fusion Fuel stepped into the void with a deal to develop a 183,000 tonnes per year green ammonia plant in Rabat, the transition is far from guaranteed. In his new publication, Professor Michaël Tanchum (Middle East Institute) argues renewable ammonia represents a unique opportunity for Morocco a "vicious" cycle into a "virtuous" one, and should be a priority for the country and the international community.

World-scale solar ammonia plant planned for South Africa
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Hive Hydrogen and Linde will lead the development & construction of a $4.6 billion, 780,000 tonnes per year solar ammonia export facility located next to the Port of Ngqura in Nelson Mandela Bay, South Africa. A dedicated solar farm (with battery storage) will be built nearby and power hydrogen production via electrolysis, air separation and ammonia production via Haber Bosch. Desalinated seawater will be supplied from off-site. Once produced, the ammonia will be stored for export from the adjacent Ngqura Harbour.