Meet partners developing Project Pecem in the northern state of Ceara, Brazil. The first phase of Project Iracema is set to come online in 2027, with the aim of producing ammonia compliant with certification requirements for the export of the renewable hydrogen to Europe. At full capacity, 2.2 million tonnes of grid-connected ammonia production capacity will be enabled.
Electrolysis
thyssenkrupp Uhde & Hive Energy: renewable ammonia in Spain
thyssenkrupp Uhde will deliver the pre-FEED stage of Hive Energy’s ALBAMED I project to be located in Albacete, Spain. The project’s first phase is expected to produce over 1 million tonnes of renewable ammonia by 2030.
Investments in mega-project deployment & US-based electrolyser manufacturing
GIC & Hy24 will invest $115 million to accelerate the deployment of InterContinental Energy’s portfolio of ammonia mega-projects. In the USA, Electric Hydrogen has closed a $380 million Series C funding round, accelerating plans to build a gigafactory in Massachusetts and deliver its first PEM electrolysers in 2024.
KBR, SolydEra to deploy solid oxide electrolysis for ammonia production
KBR will integrate SolydEra’s solid oxide electrolysis technology into its proprietary K-GreeN® ammonia synthesis process thanks to a new MoU. K-GreeN® is the technology of choice for several significant ammonia mega-projects, including Avina Clean Hydrogen (Texas), and ACME Group (Oman).
OCI Global: renewable ammonia in Texas
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.
Fertiberia: low-carbon fertilizer alliances with Heineken, PepsiCo
“Green fertilizer” produced at Fertiberia’s Puertollano plant has been successfully used on barley & potato crops in Spain, paving the way for future supply chains. Both Heineken and PepsiCo are aiming to reduce agricultural emissions and intend to scale-up the use of green fertilizer, and Fertiberia is set to begin producing low-carbon fertilizer at its other Spanish production centres.
IHI joins Australian renewable ammonia consortium
IHI Corporation will join the North Queensland Clean Energy Project, a consortium developing a GW-scale electrolysis, ammonia production and export facility in north Queensland, Australia. Project partners include Idemitsu Australia, CS Energy and Energy Estate.
More progress for Canada-based Project Nujio’qonik
Topsoe will supply its ammonia loop technology to the million tonne per year renewable ammonia project in Newfoundland. Crown lands application approval means that project developers World Energy GH2 have now secured full land capacity for both initial and potential expansion phases for the project.
Technology Status: Anion Exchange Membrane (AEM) Electrolysis
Anion Exchange Membrane (AEM) electrolysis combines concepts from alkaline and PEM. Although AEM can potentially offer the best of both worlds compared to conventional technology, challenges such as oxygen sensitivity, stack scale-up and current density still need to be addressed. Germany-based Enapter is leading the commercialization of AEM systems, with other electrolyzer manufacturers now developing their own products.