Peak industry body Hydrogen Europe has released a new report on the potential of clean ammonia production & utilisation in Europe. Although the introduction of renewable hydrogen feedstock presents an obvious opportunity to decarbonise the ammonia industry in Europe, the potential downstream applications of ammonia energy are being neglected by policymakers - particularly power generation and maritime fuel.
The coalition of industry first-movers has announced three new members and an expanded target for electrolyser deployment (45 GW amongst its members by 2026). Ammonia energy players Power2X, Hy Stor Energy and ReNew Power all joined last month.
Masdar joint venture Infinity Power, Germany-based Conjuncta and the government of Mauritania have agreed to develop an export mega-project. Up to 8 million tonnes per year of renewable fuels of non-biological origin will be produced for export to Germany. In Egypt, Masdar’s two million tonne per year ammonia fuel project on the Suez Canal has been fast-tracked via a “golden license”.
UAE-based Ocior Energy will invest $4.86 billion each into two separate, million tonne-per-year renewable ammonia projects in India: one in Andhra Pradesh, the other in Gujarat. Last December, Ocior also signed an MoU to develop a green fuels project in the Suez Canal Economic Zone.
Supported by Sumitomo Corporation, H2Pro plans to run a demonstration experiment of 200kg per day production of renewable hydrogen using their E-TAC system. H2Pro seeks to scale up to 10 tonnes per day production capacity by 2024, with the ultimate aim to commercialise by the end of this decade.
Mitsui OSK Lines, Mitsubishi, Chiyoda and the Electricity Generation Authority of Thailand will work together to build a clean hydrogen & ammonia value chain, with production based on renewable energy generation in southern Thailand. The MoU was signed on the sidelines of the official launch of the Asian Zero Emissions Community: a new region-wide initiative to drive the energy transition in Asia.
In our latest episode of Ammonia Project Features, Asunción Borras (Engie) and Pablo Wallach (Enaex) presented the HyEx project. Although a historical exporter of nitrogen fertilizers, Chile is now a major importer of ammonia, particularly as a feedstock for manufacturing mining explosives. Solar PV generating potential in Chile’s Atacama desert is among the world’s best, and the HyEx project will leverage this to produce renewable ammonia. By 2030, HyEx could produce enough ammonia to completely replace Enaex’s current ammonia imports, with volume left for exports or other applications.
The pair will partner to develop a renewable hydrogen & ammonia project near Abu Dhabi, powered by 650 MW of solar PV in the first phase. The announcement adds to a growing portfolio of electrolysis and CCS-based ammonia projects in the UAE. Also in the Middle East, neighbouring Oman looks to position itself as the ideal “midway” ammonia bunker hub between Rotterdam and Singapore.
bp will lead development of a renewable hydrogen cluster at its existing refinery in Castellón, Spain, with up to 2 GW of on-site electrolysers to be installed by 2030. Renewable hydrogen produced at project HyVal will be used as a feedstock for the refinery, and to decarbonise hard-to-abate sectors in the Valencia region, including ammonia production.
Momentum is building to establish a domestic renewable ammonia sector in India. To explore opportunities and outline key next steps, we are joined by ACME Group, University College London, and the India Hydrogen Alliance.