Three renewable and carbon-negative ammonia production projects to explore this week in Australia: Gibson Island (Incitec Pivot and Fortescue Future Industries), Bundaberg and Port Anthony (both CAC-H2 joint ventures).
As part of a new partnership with the Queensland state government, Fortescue Future Industries (FFI) announced plans for the world's largest electrolyser, renewable industry and equipment factory in Gladstone. It's been a big week for electrolyser production announcements, with new, GW-scale production facilities planned for Germany and India.
The Role of Low-Carbon Fuels in the Clean Energy Transitions of the Power Sector forecasts a significant role for low-carbon hydrogen and ammonia in decarbonising the power sector, and highlights the promising results of co-firing trials to date (both coal power plants and gas turbines). The report also outlines some key next steps to enable the widespread use of these low-carbon fuels.
In August, Robert Howarth and Mark Jacobson, respectively from Cornell and Stanford Universities, published “How green is blue hydrogen”, an examination of the lifecycle greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) of blue hydrogen, i.e., hydrogen from steam methane reforming with carbon dioxide capture and storage (CCS). How valid were the assumptions behind the study, were the calculations correct and can a realistic case be argued for blue hydrogen going forward?
Maire Tecnimont and Greenfield Nitrogen have agreed to develop a green ammonia plant in Iowa, USA. Maire Tecnimont subsidiary NextChem will lead a feasibility study into a 240 tonne per day green ammonia plant based on Stamicarbon's Green Ammonia Technology.
In the coming weeks new piping infrastructure will be built to connect Fertiberia's Puertollano ammonia production plant and 20 MW of on-site (but to-be-installed) electrolsyers.
A new study from EDF and Ricardo outlines the potential for Mexico to produce, consume and export hydrogen-based fuels like ammonia. Mexico is already positioned on some of the world's busiest shipping routes and has a potentially huge surplus of green power by 2030, presenting a unique opportunity.
A trio of Norwegian firms - renewable energy developer Magnora, investor Prime Capital and power company Troms Kraft - will partner up to get a green bunker fuel production facility up-and-running by 2025 in Tromsø, northern Norway. The project involves large-scale production of green hydrogen and further processing into green ammonia and/or liquid organic hydrogen carriers.
A team led by the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) and the Silesian University of Technology (SUT) is currently working on Project ACTIVATE. Their goal is to field demonstrate an ammonia-powered, cost-competitive agricultural vehicle by late 2023.
Trammo (one of the world's largest transporters of ammonia) will supply green ammonia to Lotte Fine Chemical (LFC is currently the largest ammonia buyer in Asia) after a new agreement was signed this week. The MoU represents the first green ammonia supply agreement in Korea, and is a critical step in LFC's development of a Korea-wide ammonia value chain.