Yara International ASA on June 10 officially opened its renewable hydrogen plant at the Herøya Industrial Park in Porsgrunn, Norway, and said it is now producing renewable hydrogen and ammonia at the facility and has already delivered the first tons of fertilizer made from renewable ammonia produced at the plant.
The 24 MW renewable hydrogen plant was inaugurated by Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre. Yara said the facility is the largest of its kind currently in operation in Europe, producing hydrogen with electrolysis of water and renewable energy, replacing natural gas as a feedstock and cutting 41,000 mt/y of CO2 emissions from the site.
“This is a major milestone for Yara and for the decarbonization of the food value chain, shipping fuel, and other energy intensive industries,” said Svein Tore Holsether, Yara President and CEO. “This is a groundbreaking project and a testament to our mission to responsibly feed the world and protect the planet.”
Holsether said the first tons of fertilizer from the plant were delivered to Northern European ag cooperative Lantmännen, based in Stockholm, Sweden. The two signed an agreement in 2022 (GM Jan. 14, 2022) and have been testing the commercial viability of green fertilizers since 2019 (GM Sept. 20, 2019). Yara inked a contract with Germany’s Linde Engineering in 2022 to construct the Herøya green hydrogen plant (GM Jan. 29, 2022).
Yara said the low-carbon fertilizers produced and delivered will be part of a new portfolio called Yara Climate Choice, which will also include fertilizers produced using carbon capture storage (CCS). Yara signed a CO2 transport and storage agreement with Northern Lights in 2023 (GM Nov. 22, 2023), which the company hailed as the world’s first cross-border CCS agreement.
“Renewable ammonia is an important part of the decarbonization puzzle, however developing it at scale takes time,” said Hans Olav Raen, CEO of Yara Clean Ammonia (YCA). “As the world is rapidly approaching 2030, we are also working to produce low-carbon ammonia with CCS to enable the hydrogen economy and develop the emerging markets for low-emission ammonia.”
Yara said it has already reduced emissions by 45% since 2005 across its production complex and aims to reduce CO2 emissions by 800,000 mt/y at its Yara Sluiskil facility in the Netherlands. The company is also evaluating world-scale low-carbon ammonia production projects with CCS in the US.
“The world needs to act urgently on multiple fronts to reach the goals of the Paris Agreement, and CCS is a critical steppingstone to decarbonize rapidly and profitably,” Holsether said. “The green transition will require investments, predictable framework conditions, massive build-out of renewable energy and grid, continuously advancing technology, and a maturing market where demand and supply are developed simultaneously.”