Yara to convert Porsgrunn to green ammonia with Statkraft and Aker
Yara International has agreed with Statkraft and Aker Horizons, to convert Yara’s ammonia plant in Porsgrunn to the green ammonia. It is probably a funded project and would take up to seven years to complete.
All three companies are headquartered in Norway. Yara deals with chemical; Statkraft is the hydropower, and renewable energy company and Aker Horizons work on CO2 capture.
The three partners will use their expertise to electrify the Yara’s existing ammonia facility in Porsgrunn to produce green ammonia. The aim is to remove CO2 emission from ammonia production entirely. This would help Yara expand into green hydrogen and green ammonia opportunities within shipping, agriculture and other industries.
So far, ammonia is the most promising hydrogen carrier and zero-carbon shipping fuel. Shipping currently accounts for 2% of global GHG emissions, whereas long-distance shipping is the major contributor which accounts for 80% of the total shipping emission. To switch long-distance shipping to ammonia would need around 500-600 million tonnes of ammonia on an annual basis which would be up to four times the current global production.
Svein Tore Holsether, President and CEO of Yara, said: “This is not just a unique decarbonisation project, but a strategic investment that can establish new value chains for green hydrogen and green ammonia.”
Oyvind Eriksen, President & CEO of Aker ASA and Chairman of Aker Horizons, said, “The first project in Porsgrunn can be a lighthouse project – providing a competitive advantage in a growing global hydrogen economy and building on existing capabilities in the Norwegian supplier industry to create new jobs for the future.”
Porsgrunn has one ammonia plant, three nitric acid plants, two NPK plants and one calcium nitrate (CN) plant. Yara, announced in December last year, to develop 500k tonnes/year green ammonia production in Norway, powering emission-free shipping fuels and decarbonised food solutions.
In addition to this project, the three partners also plan to explore the potential to produce green ammonia in Northern Norway.
