Yara International ASA, Oslo, said it is taking further steps to enable the hydrogen economy, and is establishing a global Clean Ammonia division to capture growth opportunities “within carbon-free food solutions, shipping fuel, and other clean ammonia applications, leveraging Yara’s unique existing positions within ammonia production, trade, and shipping.”
The new unit will report directly to Yara International President and CEO Svein Tore Holsether, and will be headed up by Magnus Ankarstrand, who has been leading Yara’s activities in North America.
Ankarstrand was also part of the company’s team that established the Freeport ammonia plant in Texas, which produces ammonia based on hydrogen rather than natural gas. Yara highlighted the Freeport plant, which was completed in 2019, is already producing at 130 percent of capacity.
The formation of a Clean Ammonia division will help define Yara’s intentions to decarbonize and support the global transition to cleaner fertilizers, Bloomberg cited Citigroup analyst Thomas Wrigglesworth, as commenting.
The group has 8.5 million mt/y currently of global ammonia production capacity and has three ongoing green ammonia pilots, including at its Porsgrunn site in Norway in cooperation with Norwegian hydrogen company NEL.
In December, Yara announced plans for 500,000 mt/y of green ammonia production in Norway (GM Dec. 11, 2020). It said a full-scale green ammonia project is possible in the country, where it can fully electrify its Porsgrunn ammonia plant. The group is seeking partners and government support for the project. It said if the required public co-funding and regulatory framework is in place, the project could be operational in 2026.
Yara has two other ongoing green ammonia pilot projects: at its Pilbara ammonia plant in Western Australia, it is piloting carbon-neutral ammonia based on solar power in collaboration with French global energy and service group ENGIE (GM Feb. 22, 2019); and at its Sluiskil site in The Netherlands, where it has partnered with Danish offshore wind developer Ørsted A/S in a pilot project to provide up to 75,000 mt/y green ammonia based on offshore wind power (GM Oct. 9, 2020).