Global shipping group Monjasa will provide logistics services to distribute electrolytic ammonia produced at the under-development HØST PtX project in Esbjerg, Denmark. Part of the 600,000 tonne-per-year production volume will also be reserved for Monjasa to utilise as a bunker fuel.
IHI will explore the conversion of existing LNG import terminals into ammonia import facilities, allowing gas-fired power plants direct access to ammonia fuel. Mitsubishi Shipbuilding and INPEX have completed a conceptual design for a “highly flexible” ammonia bunkering vessel, putting another key piece of ammonia import infrastructure on the path to commercialisation.
In maritime ammonia updates this week:
New import terminals, energy hubs, bunker facilities & upgrades to existing ammonia storage facilities are underway across Europe. This week, we explore new project announcements in Wilhelmshaven, Brunsbüttel, Rotterdam and Immingham. We visit Taiwan for another ammonia import terminal announcement, and look at a new partnership between thyssenkrupp and ADNOC to deploy large-scale cracking - the “last piece of the puzzle” for global ammonia trading.
IHI Corporation has announced three new ammonia partnerships this month. In the UAE, it will embark on Dubai’s first “green” ammonia feasibility study with the Emirates National Oil Company Group, with a solar-powered pilot plant to be built. In Malaysia, IHI and Petronas subsidiary Gentari Hydrogen will explore ammonia production from solar power in Johor, Malaysia. And following its investment in US-based Starfire Energy in November, IHI and Japan-based Angel Navi will identify more decarbonisation venture opportunities in Japan and around the world.
The Maritime & Port Authority of Singapore and the country’s Energy Market Authority (EMA) have jointly launched an EOI process to build, own and operate low or zero-carbon ammonia power generation and bunkering projects on Jurong Island. A project lifetime of 25 years is stipulated, with operations to begin in 2027 or before.
In this week’s maritime ammonia news:
COP27 saw an exciting number of green shipping corridor announcements. But the question remains: how do we actually build them? Earlier this year, the Maersk McKinney Møller Centre for Zero Carbon Shipping launched a Feasibility Phase Blueprint, setting out some key assessment criteria to consider. At the recent annual AEA conference in Phoenix, we took a group of sixty participants through the criteria, asking how and where the ammonia sector should engage.
Ricardo, Lloyd’s Register and the Environmental Defense Fund have used extensive modeling to assess the environmental impacts of large-scale ammonia spills in a variety of maritime scenarios. The study concludes that large-scale spills will have a high impact on certain environmental settings, and in particular fish species. The report also indicates that ammonia is less likely to spread & persist in the environment compared to a spill of conventional maritime fuel, and in some cases will pose less of a threat to certain species. More considerations need to be worked through, including health risks to a ship’s crew.
The US and Norway launched the Green Shipping Challenge in Sharm el-Sheikh this month. The Challenge encompasses more than forty different announcements & initiatives, including ammonia fuel production in Namibia, ammonia-powered cargo shipping in Finland, ammonia-powered pilot vessels in Norway's Green Shipping Programme, and a host of new green corridor projects. A trio of new reports have also provided an assessment of progress to date in green corridor development, and suggested key next steps.