Morocco’s Minister of Energy, Mines, and Environment Aziz Rabbah on July 13 unveiled the HEVO Ammonia Morocco project at an event in Rabat. The project is Morocco’s largest announced green hydrogen and green ammonia project to date, with an estimated total investment value of more than MAD7.5 billion (approximately $850 million at current exchange rates), Fusion Fuel Green Plc, an Irish green hydrogen technology company and joint participant in the project, reported in a July 14 statement.
It is anticipated that the project would be jointly developed by Fusion Fuel and Consolidated Contractors Group SAL (CCC), a global construction company. The offtake of the green ammonia would be managed by Geneva-headquartered Dutch energy and commodity trading company Vitol, Fusion Fuel said.
Development of the first phase of the project is expected to begin in 2022 following the completion of a feasibility study. When fully commissioned, this first phase is expected to produce 183,000 mt/y of green ammonia and abate 280,000 mt of CO2 annually, with operations targeted by 2026, according to Fusion Fuel.
Fusion Fuel expects to supply the technology to produce the 31,000 mt of green hydrogen needed annually for the project, and has created what it described as “a revolutionary” off-grid solar-to-hydrogen generator, called the “Hevo Solar,” that allows it to produce emissions-free hydrogen at highly competitive costs in regions with strong solar irradiation.
CCC would serve as the general construction partner for the project.
The Energy, Mines, and Environment Minister highlighted that the project ultimately would establish Morocco as a major exporter of ammonia to international markets. Currently, the Kingdom has limited domestic ammonia production, and has had to rely on imported ammonia to produce fertilizer, one of Morocco’s key industries.
Morocco imported 1.9 million mt of ammonia last year, up from 1.59 million mt in 2019, according to Trade Data Monitor.