In my last message as AEA President, I wish to convey my sincere gratitude to the membership and AEA staff. I am excited to see the industry moving into its next phase, and will be proud to support incoming President Vibeke Rasmussen as the AEA strides forward in its current and future initiatives: certification, advocacy, safety and public perception.
Fluxys and Advario have issued a call for market interest in ammonia import capacity at their new, open-access terminal at the Port of Antwerp-Bruges. Fluxys is also engaged in the HyBex project, a pilot commodity trading hub that will help establish a hydrogen market in Belgium. Also in Europe, the Port of Rotterdam and the Port of Shannon Foynes will collaborate to develop a green fuels corridor.
2024 has already been a busy year, with ammonia discussions at an exciting phase. Despite the hesitancy and doubts about ammonia I have heard at recent events, I continue to deliver the same constructive messages, and urge the AEA membership and networks to use the information available to continue to promote ammonia. Our upcoming annual event in New Orleans will explore progress in establishing ammonia markets, and I can’t wait to see you all again in-person.
Maritime & Port Authority of Singapore has announced new initiatives and a host of updates on ongoing maritime ammonia projects. Headlines include: green & digital shipping corridors to Rotterdam and Australia, an RFI for ammonia transport from select global locations that will fuel power generation and bunker demonstrations on Jurong Island, and a new training facility for seafarers. Also during the event, IMO Secretary-General Arsenio Dominguez visited the moored Fortescue Green Pioneer.
Navigator sees its ship-to-ship ammonia transfer in South Africa as a milestone that will help unlock ammonia as a maritime bunker fuel. In Japan, JERA will begin truck-to-ship bunkering of ammonia fuel in late May, servicing NYK Line’s A-Tug vessel.
The American Bureau of Shipping, Fleet Management Limited, Sumitomo Corporation, TOTE Services and CALAMCO will explore the feasibility of ship-to-ship bunkering at the Ports of Oakland and Benicia, leveraging CALAMCO’s existing ammonia import and storage terminal at the Port of Stockton.
With installation and testing of ammonia fuel equipment now complete, a 20% ammonia co-firing demonstration will proceed from April to June this year at the Hekinan power plant. JERA and IHI aim for commercial operations to begin around March 2025. JERA is also exploring part ownership and offtake from Exxon Mobil’s CCS ammonia mega-project in Baytown, Texas.
Yara and Azane have received approval from Norway’s Directorate for Civil Protection to construct their first ammonia bunker facility at Fjord Base, with the bulk of bunker operations to provide offshore supply vessels with ammonia fuel. In the Netherlands, the Dutch EPA has granted a permit to OCI Global to construct a 60,000 ton ammonia storage tank in Rotterdam, based on requirements that will feature in the updated version of PGS-12.
Fortescue Future Industries, Maritime and Port Authority Singapore and a host of supporting organisations announced a world-first marine trial in Singapore harbor last week. The vessel sailed on ammonia and diesel dual-fuel in harbor waters, after being loaded with liquid ammonia fuel at Vopak’s Banyan Terminal on Jurong Island. Two years of vessel development and months of safety and training exercises led up to the trial. MPA and Fortescue report that post-combustion NOx levels from the vessel met local air quality standards for Singapore, with further emissions treatment measures to be applied.
Along with project partner Fluxys, Advario is studying the feasibility of developing an open-access ammonia import terminal at the Port of Antwerp-Bruges, with operations to begin in 2027. On a recent tour of Advario facilities in Belgium, Hydrogen Council representatives noted an “impressive” approach to safety in ammonia transition plans.