Spain-based FRV will develop a new $5 billion renewable hydrogen and ammonia project at the Pecém Industrial and Port Complex. At full capacity, 1.6 million tons of ammonia per year will be produced. FRV is now one of six organisations that have signed agreements with the state government of Ceará to develop production projects.
In our latest episode of Ammonia Project Features, we explored Project Iracema: a grid-connected, renewable ammonia production facility under-development in Pecem, northeast Brazil. To discuss Brazil’s unique electricity market, project details and the important role of certification to the project, AEA Technology Manager Kevin Rouwenhorst was joined by Jonas Rechreche (Proton Ventures), Matheus Kleming (Casa dos Ventos) and Ricardo Gedra (CCEE).
Meet partners developing Project Pecem in the northern state of Ceara, Brazil. The first phase of Project Iracema is set to come online in 2027, with the aim of producing ammonia compliant with certification requirements for the export of the renewable hydrogen to Europe. At full capacity, 2.2 million tonnes of grid-connected ammonia production capacity will be enabled.
Green Energy Park has announced that its first ammonia production & export facility will be located in the State of Piauí, Brazil. In the initial phase, one million tonnes of ammonia per year will be produced & exported to a midstream distribution hub on the island of Krk in Croatia, which is on the doorstep of key European industrial regions.
Having witnessed the extreme climate events this northern hemisphere summer, it was heartening to see momentum for new renewable projects on display in Sao Paulo, where I spoke at a recent conference. In the Netherlands, an important decision on the Porthos project will - hopefully - create space for infrastructure development.
State-owned enterprise China Energy has announced new ammonia initiatives in three countries, with a reported budget of $20 billion to invest outside China over the next few years. A partnership with Petrobras in Brazil, construction of a new renewable ammonia mega-project in Morocco, and a construction start date for a renewable ammonia plant next to the Suez Canal in Egypt have all been announced in the last few weeks.
Casa dos Ventos, Comerc and the Transhydrogen Alliance (THA) will continue development of a 2.2 million-tonne-per-year electrolytic ammonia export project at the Port of Pecém in northern Brazil. The country’s renewables-heavy grid will power 2.4 GW of electrolysis capacity, with exports to Rotterdam to start in 2026. THA founding member Proton Ventures recently selected an engineering partner to perform FEED work for the Pecém plant, and was also awarded a construction contract by OCP Group for two world-scale ammonia storage tanks in Morocco.
As part of the HyEx project, Mitsui & Co., Toyo Engineering and Enaex will develop a solar-powered, 18,000 tonnes-per-year renewable ammonia plant in Tocopilla, northern Chile. Just outside of Tocopilla, Sumitomo and Chilean transmission utility Colbún have teamed up to explore renewable ammonia production & export. The pair will also assess million-tonne-per-year production in Chile’s south. Also in South America, Proton Ventures have contracted Fitchner to assess the feasibility of planned renewable production projects.