Germany-based hydrogen project developer Hy2gen has started the Feed phase for a planned 240MW green ammonia plant powered by hydropower at Sauda on Norway’s southwestern coast.

Construction of the plant is scheduled to start in the first quarter of 2024, pending FID, with full operations in early 2027. Initial production will be 600t/d of green ammonia, with the aim to significantly scale up production in the future. The product will be aimed at the marine fuel market.

The project, called Efuels, is owned by a consortium of Hy2gen, global resource trading group Trafigura and Danish fund manager Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners (CIP). The consortium plans to invest “significant capital” in the project’s production, storage and shipping facility.

“The accessibility to abundant green energy from hydropower, a good harbour for exports, an attractive production site, a long regional industry history, and above all, the positive reception of the local authorities and businesses, encouraged us to choose Sauda as the future home of Iverson Efuels in Norway,” says Cyril Dufau-Sansot, CEO of Hy2gen.

Trafigura used the project announcement to call on policymakers to better incentivise zero-carbon fuels. “Availability of zero-emission alternative fuels such as green ammonia is an important prerequisite to decarbonising the global shipping industry. We also urgently need global policymakers to cost-neutralise the use of zero-carbon fuels through carbon pricing measures to drive demand and enable [shipping] to radically reduce emissions,” says Rasmus Bach Nielsen, Trafigura’s global head of fuel decarbonisation.

In December, Trafigura said it aims to reduce the intensity of its shipping emissions by 25pc by 2030 compared with the 2019 International Maritime Organization industry baseline.

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Author: Stuart Penson