The US Department of Energy has selected seven hydrogen hub applications to proceed to a funding negotiation stage, with $7 billion to be split between them. Fertiliser, power generation, industrial decarbonisation and heavy vehicle transport are all target markets for the new hubs, with locations to range from the Gulf Coast, Appalachia, the Midwest to the Californian coast.
OCI will offtake electrolytic hydrogen feedstock from New Fortress Energy’s ZeroParks facility from 2025, allowing for the production of 80,000 tonnes per year of renewable ammonia at its Beaumont plant in Texas. This “over-the-fence” feedstock approach will also be employed in the development of a new multi-million tonne per year, greenfield ammonia plant in Beaumont, with Linde to own & operate an adjacent, CCS-based hydrogen production plant.
Horisont Energi will partner with PGNiG Upstream Norway for the Barents Blue ammonia project. After the departure of original CCS partners Equinor and Vår earlier this year, Horisont also announced that Fertiberia would join as 50:50 development partner.
CF Industries & POSCO will commence a FEED study on CCS-based ammonia production at CF’s Blue Point Complex in Louisiana as part of a potential joint venture in low-carbon ammonia production, with long-term offtake to South Korea.
Having witnessed the extreme climate events this northern hemisphere summer, it was heartening to see momentum for new renewable projects on display in Sao Paulo, where I spoke at a recent conference. In the Netherlands, an important decision on the Porthos project will - hopefully - create space for infrastructure development.
Our June episode of Ammonia Project Features focused on a new project in Niigata prefecture, which will demonstrate low-carbon, fossil-based ammonia production with a capacity of 500 tonnes per year. As part of the project, Japanese government organization JOGMEC will work with INPEX to develop enhanced gas recovery & CO2 sequestration monitoring technologies. Tsubame BHB will deploy its low-temperature, low-pressure ammonia synthesis technology based on an electride-supported catalyst developed at the Tokyo Institute of Technology.
CIP has announced its strategic investment in CWP Global’s portfolio of hydrogen & ammonia mega-projects, acquiring a 26.67% stake in a key element of CWP’s green hydrogen business. In February, CIP acquired a majority stake in a CCS-based mega-project being developed in Louisiana by the Sustainable Fuels Group.
The pair will join forces to promote the adoption of low-carbon ammonia fuel in the maritime sector, with an initial focus on US inland waterways transportation. Amogy has also signed a new agreement to explore the potential retrofit of vessels in Skansi’s offshore service supply fleet with its ammonia-to-power technology system.
Marubeni & Pembina Pipeline Corporation will jointly develop a low-carbon ammonia supply chain from Western Canada to Japan. CCS-based hydrogen production & ammonia plants will be built adjacent to Pembina’s existing complex near Fort Saskatchewan, Alberta, with ammonia to be shipped by rail to Canada’s west coast for export.
Meet JOGMEC and Tsubame BHB to explore a new CCS-based ammonia production project in Japan, utilising enhanced gas recovery (EGR) for CCS, as well as Tsubame’s alternative technology to Haber-Bosch for ammonia synthesis.