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Fortescue, LMG Marin and Eidesvik to launch ammonia-powered ships
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Four ammonia-powered ships were announced this week, with a mixture of retrofits and newbuilds. Fortescue Future Industries will convert the MMA Leveque to run on near 100% ammonia fuel within 12 months. Grieg Maritime and Wartsila's MS Green Ammonia vessel has a designer, with LMG Marin engaged to complete a concept by mid next year. And Eidesvik, Aker BP and Alma (formerly Prototech AS) have joined forces to deploy the ammonia-fed fuel cell technology being developed for the Viking Energy project.

New UK joint venture for lightweight, modular ammonia crackers
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Reaction Engines, IP Group, and the Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC) launched a new joint venture this week at COP26 in Glasgow. The group will design and commercialise lightweight, modular ammonia cracking reactors to enable the use of ammonia in hard-to-decarbonise sectors, particularly aviation, shipping and off-grid power generation applications. The design will feature Reaction Engines’ heat exchanger technology developed for its SABRE™ air-breathing rocket engine. In this setup, exhaust heat is utilised to partially crack ammonia back into a fuel blend that "mimics" jet fuel. STFC will lead development of the cracking catalyst, with funding to be provided by IP Group.

Transhydrogen Alliance to invest $2 billion in Brazil
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The Transhydrogen Alliance - a consortium formed this year by Proton Ventures, Trammo DMCC and Varo Energy - will invest $2 billion in green hydrogen production at the Pecém Complex in the Brazilian state of Ceará. The project's aim is to produce 500,000 tonnes per year of green hydrogen, which will be converted to 2.5 million tonnes of green ammonia for import to Europe via the Port of Rotterdam.

Wärtsilä & Møkster join forces, Japanese maritime consortium takes next steps
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Wärtsilä and Simon Møkster Shipping will explore the feasibility of using ammonia as the main fuel in dual fuel engines. Currently Møkster's fleet operates on LNG. In Japan, NYK Line, Japan Engine Corporation, IHI Power Systems, Nihon Shipyards and ClassNK will all collaborate on a demonstration project of ammonia-powered vessels in Japan. First announced in 2020 with three vessel concepts, two of the three vessel designs now have a commercialisation schedule fully defined (the A Tug and the AFAGC).