Yara Clean Ammonia (YCA) on July 1 signed a heads-of-terms agreement for renewable ammonia offtake from the $890 million project in Egypt being developed by Norwegian-based Scatec, Egyptian state-owned Egyptian Petrochemicals Holding Co. (ECHEM), and Egyptian-based Misr Fertilizers Production Co. (MOPCO).
According to the preliminary agreement, Yara will offtake and export hydrogen-derived green ammonia, although Yara did not announce quantities. Scatec and its partners are expected to build a new 240MW hydrogen project with renewable energy input and a seawater desalination plant. The hydrogen will then be used to produce 150,000 mt/y of green ammonia using MOPCO’s existing production facilities. Operation is planned to begin in 2027.
The project in Damietta, Egypt, has also been awarded funding from the European Investment Bank as part of the $290 million funding package announced during the EU-Egypt Investment Conference in Cairo at the end of June.
“Yara Clean Ammonia has a diversified portfolio of asset-backed and offtake agreements for low-emission ammonia,” said YCA CEO Hans Olav Raen. “This project will further strengthen our sourcing portfolio of renewable ammonia and is a testimony to Yara Clean Ammonia as the most preferred off-taker as the world’s largest trader and distributor of ammonia. Once the project has reached a final investment decision, the renewable ammonia from this project will help us reliably serve our customers across several market sectors.”
Yara recently opened its own renewable hydrogen and ammonia plant in Norway (GM June 14, p. 1). Yara’s clean ammonia unit is the operator of the largest global ammonia network with 15 ships and access to 18 ammonia terminals and multiple production and consumption sites.