Fertiglobe—a partnership between fertiliser supplier OCI and the UAE’s Adnoc—has sold its second blue ammonia cargo to Japan.

The latest sale is to Japanese refiner Idemitsu, which will use the cargo to pilot the use of blue ammonia to decarbonise its operations.

“The shipment, which was sold at an attractive premium to grey ammonia, underscores the favourable economics for blue ammonia as an emerging source of low-carbon energy,” Adnoc says.

“For Japan, in particular, hydrogen and its carrier fuels, such as blue ammonia, are expected to play an important role in the country’s ongoing industrial decarbonisation efforts” Adnoc

Last week, Fertiglobe sold its first blue ammonia cargo to Itochu in Japan for use in fertiliser production.

The blue ammonia for Idemitsu will be produced at Fertiglobe’s Fertil plant in the Ruwais Industrial Complex in Abu Dhabi.

Adnoc says production of the cargo will form part a planned scale-up of blue ammonia production capabilities in Abu Dhabi, which is expected to include a low-cost debottlenecking programme at Fertil.

Fertiglobe is also expected to join Adnoc and holding company ADQ as a partner in a new 1mn t/yr blue ammonia project at Ta’ziz in Ruwais, subject to regulatory approvals.

Japan is emerging as a potentially large offtake market for Mid-East Gulf oil producers as they start to develop clean hydrogen production. “For Japan, in particular, hydrogen and its carrier fuels, such as blue ammonia, are expected to play an important role in the country’s ongoing industrial decarbonisation efforts,” Adnoc says.

Japan’s use of hydrogen is expected to focus mainly on hard-to-abate sectors such as steel, but its draft energy strategy for the next decade, released last month, also included hydrogen as a power generation fuel for the first time.

 

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Author: Stuart Penson