Incitec Pivot Ltd. (IPL), Southbank, Victoria, and global green energy company Fortescue Future Industries (FFI) will progress planning for the conversion of IPL’s Gibson Island ammonia facility in Brisbane, Queensland, to run on green hydrogen to its final stages, IPL said on Oct. 7.
The two parties are electing to begin Front End Engineering Design (FEED), as well as executing a framework agreement to govern the project through to a Final Investment decision, currently targeted for calendar 2023.
The FEED phase is anticipated to cost around A$38 million (approximately US$24.6 million at current exchange rates), with the federal government, through the Australian Renewable Energy Agency, contributing A$13.7 million.
With studies having confirmed its feasibility, the proposed project could see the construction of a new ~500 MW hydrogen electrolysis facility at the site to produce green hydrogen, as well as the retrofitting of IPL’s existing ammonia manufacturing plant to run on the green hydrogen produced on site.
The retrofitted plant ultimately could produce up to 400,000 mt/y of green ammonia, which could be exported to international markets, as well as used to produce fertilizers, or potentially used as a low-carbon fuel source for ports, airports, and heavy transport, said IPL. The existing ammonia plant has nameplate capacity of 300,000 mt/y, according to the company’s website.
IPL announced last November that it would cease traditional fertilizer production at the Gibson Island site due to the company being unable to secure “an economically viable” long-term gas supply to the plant beyond its current supply contract (GM Nov. 12, 2021). According to IPL’s Oct. 7 statement, this is set for “early in the new year.” IPL previously indicated production would cease at the end of December 2022.
IPL and FFI announced in October 2021 that they were partnering on a feasibility study into industrial-scale production of green ammonia at the Gibson Island fertilizer manufacturing facility (GM Oct. 15, 2021).