In marine ammonia news to begin 2024, we explore a volume-efficient, “prismatic” ammonia fuel tank design, a new long-term charter for ammonia shipping in the Pacific region, and two global gas exporters ordering ammonia-capable carriers for their fleets.
Singapore's sovereign wealth fund GIC has agreed to a strategic equity investment in InterContinental Energy, who are currently developing a number of green ammonia "Supergiants". GIC's announcement follows another significant green investment by Singapore, this time in Indonesia. $9 billion will fund a logistics hub in Jakarta and a number of renewable energy projects, with MoUs signed between the heads of state to cement a new focus on decarbonisation and alternative energies
Decarbonisation of Yara's Porsgrunn ammonia plant took another step this week, with Linde Engineering selected to build a 24 MW, demonstration-scale electrolysis plant to produce green hydrogen for ammonia production. The electrolysers themselves will be provided by UK-based ITM Power, who indicate that the units will be shipped towards the end of this year.
The new report from ISPT is the culmination of the Hydrohub Gigawatt Scale Elektrolyser project, and presents a detailed design for an advanced, GW-scale green hydrogen plant. The greenfield design could be up-and-running in a Dutch port area by 2030, and would have total investment cost levels of 730 €/kW for alkaline water electrolysis, or 830 €/kW for PEM water electolysis. This translates to about half the CAPEX required for a state-of-the-art design from 2020.
A new, million-tonne per-year blue ammonia project is under development in the Northern Territory, Australia, with gas from the Pedirka Basin (located near Alice Springs) to be used to produce hydrogen, and carbon emissions sequestered in a nearby geological formation. An MoU between project developer Hexagon Energy Materials and FRV Australia will see FRV-owned renewable power (existing or new build) provide electricity to Hexagon's to-be-built hydrogen and ammonia production facilities.
In Wyoming, North Shore Energy and Starwood Energy Group have received over $4 million in funding from the Wyoming Energy Authority for "Project Phoenix" - a state-of-the-art ammonia complex with on-site carbon capture and sequestration capabilities to be built near Evanston.
A key green ammonia project was affected by Morocco's suspension of diplomatic relations with Germany in March 2021, and has been forced to proceed slowly, without any interactions with its German partners. The cooperation agreement between phosphate & fertiliser giant OCP, German research institute Fraunhofer and the Moroccan Institute for Research in Solar Energy and New Energies (IRESEN) aimed to replicate Fraunhofer's pilot green hydrogen plant in Ben Guerir, Morocco. Although Ireland-based Fusion Fuel stepped into the void with a deal to develop a 183,000 tonnes per year green ammonia plant in Rabat, the transition is far from guaranteed. In his new publication, Professor Michaël Tanchum (Middle East Institute) argues renewable ammonia represents a unique opportunity for Morocco a "vicious" cycle into a "virtuous" one, and should be a priority for the country and the international community.
