Germany’s Thyssenkrupp Fertilizer Technology GmbH has signed a contract with Italy’s Saipem S.p.A. to provide the licensing, process design package, and main equipment for Perdaman Chemicals and Fertilisers Pty Ltd.’s 2.3 million mt/y granular urea project under construction some 20 km north of Karratha on Western Australia’s Burrup Peninsula.
Saipem is in a 50:50 joint venture with Webuild Group SpA as the Engineering, Procurement, and Construction (EPC) contractors for the Perdaman project.
Thyssenkrupp said it has been contracted to supply two granulators and two exhaust air scrubbers for the urea granulation. The granulation unit will have a total production capacity of 6,200 mt/d, made up of two identical trains of 3,100 mt/d each. Thyssenkrupp’s licensed UFT fluid-bed urea granulation technology is being used in more than 70 plants globally.
Perdaman broke ground on the long-planned urea project on April 26 this year (GM April 28, p. 1) after achieving financial close for the A$6 billion project (approximately $3.98 billion at current exchange rates). The junior producer expects the plant to be commissioned in mid-2027 (GM April 21, p. 1).
The facility will provide Australia’s Incitec Pivot Fertilisers Ltd. (IPF) with a secure, long-term supply of domestically produced urea. IPF has a 20-year offtake agreement of 2.3 million mt/y of granular urea from the Perdaman plant on its commissioning (GM May 7, 2021).
In
an April 26 statement, Perdaman revealed that to achieve financial close it
agreed to a strategic equity investment in the project of “over A$2.1 billion”
with the US-based Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP) in return for GIP taking
a 49% interest in the urea development. Perdaman did not disclose the terms of
the deal with GIP (GM April 28, p.
1).