Air Liquide will invest up to $850 million to build, own and operate four large air separation units as part of ExxonMobil’s low-carbon hydrogen project in Baytown, Texas. The units will provide nitrogen and oxygen feedstocks to ExxonMobil, which will be used to produce low-carbon hydrogen and ammonia.
In my last message as AEA President, I wish to convey my sincere gratitude to the membership and AEA staff. I am excited to see the industry moving into its next phase, and will be proud to support incoming President Vibeke Rasmussen as the AEA strides forward in its current and future initiatives: certification, advocacy, safety and public perception.
The pair will explore a million-ton-per-year ammonia production plant at an undisclosed US location, based on CCS hydrogen production. The plant will be a “potentially important contributor” to INEOS Nitriles’ emission reduction targets, as ammonia is a key feedstock for acrylonitrile manufacturing.
LSB will supply up to 150,000 tons per year of low-carbon ammonium nitrate solution (ANS) to Freeport Minerals Corporation from 2025, for use in Freeport’s USA copper mining operations. The ANS will be manufactured from low-carbon ammonia produced at LSB’s El Dorado plant.
In our April episode of Project Features, 8 Rivers joined us to discuss its 8RH2 technology for gas-based hydrogen production with carbon capture rates beyond 99%. As well as the technology itself, we explore the Allam-Fetvedt cycle, the deployment of 8RH2 to produce ammonia in Texas, and 8 Rivers’ future plans.
Nel will supply over 1 GW of alkaline electrolysers for Hy Stor Energy’s hydrogen production and storage hub project in Mississippi, USA. In other electrolyser news, Cepsa and Allied Green Ammonia have picked technology providers for their under-development projects in Spain and Australia.
Incentivised by the US government’s Inflation Reduction Act, Topsoe plans to build a 1 GW solid oxide electrolysis cell manufacturing plant in Virginia. Combined with its existing SOEC factory in Herning, Denmark, the new factory will make Topsoe the largest SOEC manufacturer globally.
OCI Global will deliver ammonia produced at its Texas plant to COMPO EXPERT in Germany, replacing 25% of its feedstock with low-carbon ammonia from this year. Meanwhile, the Indian Farmers Fertiliser Cooperative Limited (IFFCO) will offtake 200,000 tons of renewable ammonia per year from ACME’s under-development plant in Gopalpur, Odisha. This second deal will be facilitated by the use of “Internationally Transferred Mitigation Outcomes” (or ITMOs), a credit mechanism established by the Paris Agreement.
CF Industries and JERA will work towards development of a 1.4 million tons per year, gas-based mega-project at CF’s planned Blue Point complex in Ascension Parish. JERA will explore a 48% ownership stake in the new project, with FID scheduled within a year. In Odisha, India, JERA will work with ReNew on the development of a renewables-based ammonia project.
The American Bureau of Shipping, Fleet Management Limited, Sumitomo Corporation, TOTE Services and CALAMCO will explore the feasibility of ship-to-ship bunkering at the Ports of Oakland and Benicia, leveraging CALAMCO’s existing ammonia import and storage terminal at the Port of Stockton.