The European Parliament has recently voted on key changes to the Renewable Energy Directive II. The changes include new renewable fuel targets for industry, scrapping the “additionality” clause, and easing temporal & geographical restrictions on electricity PPAs for hydrogen production. A new, €3 billion Hydrogen Bank has also been announced in a bid to close the investment gap in Europe.
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.
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.
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, 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.
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.
In our most recent episode of Ammonia Project Features, we explored the potential for renewable fertilizers in Europe. Birgitte Holder (Yara) explained that renewable hydrogen is low-hanging fruit for decarbonizing food production, but further emissions reduction will come from working across the full value chain: including on the farm itself. Yara’s agreement with agricultural cooperative Lantmannen is part of this wider focus. From a regulatory perspective, Theo Paquet (Fertilizers Europe) showed us there are many regulatory levers to pull to achieve decarbonization goals in the fertilizer sector, and that national food & energy security concerns may accelerate regulatory change in the coming years.
