A new partnership between the trio aims to produce 5 million tonnes of renewable ammonia per year at multiple locations across India. Round-the-clock renewable energy from the Indian grid will be utilised, as well as electrolysers manufactured via a separate tie-up between Greenko and John Cockerill.
REC Limited has committed nearly $5 billion total to three new energy projects in Odisha state, including renewable ammonia projects to be developed by Avaada and ACME Group. Avaada also announced that its facility will include a “cutting-edge” ammonia storage facility, to be developed at Gopalpur Port. The new funds follow a $1 billion investment in Avaada from infrastructure giant Brookfield earlier this year.
The pair will jointly develop a 1.3 million tonnes per year renewable ammonia production plant in the Gopalpur Industrial Park in Odisha, northeast India. From the adjacent port, ammonia will be shipped domestically, and exported to key global markets.
The state government of Andhra Pradesh launched its new hydrogen and ammonia policy in June, including a production target of up to 2 million tonnes per year of renewable ammonia, plus a raft of incentives to attract project developers to the Indian state. The news comes as India’s Ministry of New and Renewable Energy sets the standard for “green” hydrogen produced in the country.
A $325 million investment from Macquarie Asset Management will support Atlas Agro’s new Pacific Green Fertilizer Plant in Washington state, USA. FID on the plant is due early next year, which will produce 700,000 tonnes of zero-carbon nitrate fertiliser each year.
In India, ACME Group has secured two loans from REC Limited: $500 million to fully finance the first phase of the ACME’s Duqm renewable ammonia project, and $2.5 billion to support the first phases of ACME’s “round the clock” renewable power projects in Odisha and Tail Nadu.
India’s state-owned oil and gas company ONGC will invest $13 billion to deploy 10 GW of renewable energy generation by 2030. At least 5 GW of this will be in Rajasthan, where ONGC and Greenko have an agreement to develop a million-tonne-per-year ammonia production facility. ONGC is considering a similar-sized ammonia facility in Karnataka, potentially powered with offshore wind.
New guidelines for Indian ports mandate the use of renewable energy in port operations, as well as the development of storage, handling and bunkering capabilities for future maritime fuels. All of India’s thirteen major ports must have ammonia bunkering & refueling facilities established by 2035, as well as making efforts to retrofit port crafts to run on future fuels.
Although a globally significant ammonia producer, India still relies on ammonia & fertilizer imports to support its agricultural sector. In our recent episode of Ammonia Project Features, we explored the potential of domestically-produced renewable ammonia to both replace these imports and position India as an ammonia energy giant. Excellent solar PV resources, plentiful government support and access to “round-the-clock” renewables were all highlighted as key drivers for India to meet its renewable ammonia potential.