Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners, a Danish fund management company focused on renewable energy infrastructure, on Feb. 23 unveiled plans for the establishment of Europe’s largest production facility of CO2-free green ammonia. The project will be located in the town of Esbjerg on Denmark’s West Coast, where the Power-to-X-facility will convert power from offshore wind turbines to green ammonia.
The projected cost is US$1.21 billion with ammonia capacity of 650,000 mt/y, with 600,000 mt going to agriculture and 50,000 mt to the shipping industry, according to the Business Recorder. A final investment decision is expected in 2023, with completion eyed for 2026.
This will be used by the agriculture sector as CO2-free green fertilizer and by the shipping industry as CO2-free green fuel. The excess heat will be used to provide heating for around one third of the local households in Esbjerg. The facility will consist of 1GW electrolysis. Ultimately, this is expected to reduce CO2-emissions by about 1.5 million tons CO2 yearly – or the equivalent to removing 730,000 cars from the roads permanently.
Major collaboration has come from both the ag and shipping industries, with participants from each segment signing a Memorandum of Understanding committing themselves to work toward realizing the establishment of the facility. The signers include Arla, Scandinavia’s largest producer of dairy products; Danish Crown, Europe’s largest pork producer; and DLG, Europe’s largest farm supply company. Major shipping companies A.P. Moller – Maersk and DFDS also signed.
CIP said ammonia production contributes to roughly 1.4 percent of global CO2 emissions. It estimates the facility in Esbjerg has the capacity to replace all imported fertilizers in Denmark, which are produced on fossil fuels.
“There is a very real sense of urgency in curbing shipping’s emissions, and we must develop scalable carbon neutral fuels,” said CEO of Fleet & Strategic Brands, A.P. Moller – Maersk Henriette Hallberg Thygesen. “Therefore, we welcome this project as an important development of green ammonia supply in the future. At A.P. Moller – Maersk we have announced that we will have our first carbon neutral vessel on the water by 2023 – seven years ahead of schedule.
“This vessel will be running on carbon neutral methanol. Nevertheless, we consider green ammonia as a promising option for marine fuels and a dual fuel engine for ammonia is under development. We are optimistic that ammonia, along with methanol and alcohol-lignin blends, will be powering Maersk-vessels in the future,” Thygesen continued.
A.P. Moller – Maersk has announced that all newly constructed vessels owned by the company must be able to use carbon-neutral fuels. The company said half of its largest 200 customers have set science-based or zero-carbon targets for their supply chains, or are in the process of doing so. The firm wants to have net-zero emissions from its operations by 2050, and helped found a research center focused on decarbonizing the industry.