2024 has seen successful funding rounds for a number of ammonia energy startups, ranging in focus from catalyst development to next-generation, modular synthesis technologies.
The governments of Australia and Germany have agreed to establish a bilateral H2Global tender, contributing €200 million each to a joint auction. The process will be similar to a recently-concluded pilot auction for long-term ammonia exports from Egypt to Rotterdam, and a just-launched Canadian scheme.
The European Commission has approved a €3 billion German scheme to support the construction of the “Hydrogen Core Network”. The 9,700 km network will act as the foundation of a long-distance, pipeline transport network for hydrogen within Germany, connecting to several EU states and the continent-wide European Hydrogen Backbone.
Mizuho Financial, one of Japan’s largest banks, has outlined its near-term investment strategy for the “production and supply of hydrogen and related technologies by 2030”. Mizuho is offering ¥2 trillion worth of financing that will be committed to various projects and players globally, and is also engaged in various hydrogen and ammonia initiatives.
More than €4.7 billion is now available to support the growth of hydrogen derivative imports to the EU. Via its implementation entity Hintco, H2Global has already launched a series of auctions to fund ten-year purchase agreements for methanol, ammonia and SAF.
Two new Bills make up a “hydrogen promotion” package submitted to the Japanese parliament. The “Hydrogen Society Promotion Bill”, sets up a framework for awarding subsidies under the GX bonds scheme (a contracts-for-difference program), while the “CCS Business Bill” sets out permitting and monitoring requirements for domestic CCS projects in Japan.
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.
New Zealand-based Hiringa Energy and Australian group Sundown Pastoral will develop the Good Earth Green Hydrogen and Ammonia Project (GEGHA), which will produce ammonia-based fertiliser & hydrogen for fuel cells to support cotton farming near Moree, New South Wales. The partners are already looking to expand to multiple production projects in the area.