Swiss-based Atlas Agro, soon after announcing plans for its first green fertilizer plant in the US (GM April 14, p. 1; March 31, p. 1), has turned its focus to Brazil, where it has announced plans to build a US$850 million (R$4.3 billion) plant in Uberaba, Minas Gerais. It expects to start construction in 2024, with completion scheduled for mid-2027.
Atlas Agro plans to be a pioneer in the decarbonization of the fertilizer industry in Brazil and plans to build seven to nine green nitrogen fertilizer plants in the country, helping Brazil reduce its dependence on imported fertilizers.
“Today, we import more than 85% of the fertilizers we use in Brazil, a country that is one of the biggest agribusiness powerhouses in the world,” said Knut Karlsen, Co-Founder and CEO of Altas Agro for Latin America. “The amount is equivalent to more than 8 billion dollars in fertilizers imports for the Brazilian territory.”
The plant will use a 100% clean matrix, from renewable sources such as solar and wind, to produce green hydrogen, green ammonia, and zero carbon nitrogen fertilizers. The renewable energy consultancy Clean Energy Latin America (CELA) was hired to help the company prospect and select renewable energy suppliers for the Uberaba plant.
The plant will have an average consumption of around 300 MW, which can be translated into almost 600 MW of wind installed capacity, or more than 1GW of 100% solar installed capacity.
The factory will also have a production capacity of 500,000 mt/y of fertilizers to serve customers in the region. “We have letters of purchase interest signed with several customers and we should conclude the agreements for the supply of zero carbon nitrogen fertilizers in the coming months,” said Karlsen.
The US project, currently in the engineering design phase, is expected to produce green ammonium nitrate. While the product mix has not been identified for the Brazil plant, the country uses a lot of ammonium nitrate and imports the bulk of it from Russia.
In addition to the US and Brazil, Atlas Agro said it is also working closely with partners on project development in Paraguay.