Ørsted and Yara form green ammonia pact

Ørsted and Yara, the world’s leading fertilizer company, have teamed up on a project to use renewable hydrogen in the production of green ammonia.

Yara and Ørsted will jointly develop a 100 MW wind-powered electrolyser plant for renewable hydrogen production, aiming to replace fossil-based hydrogen with green hydrogen for ammonia production in Yara’s Sluiskil plant in the Dutch province of Zeeland.

The renewable hydrogen would generate around 75,000 tons of green ammonia per year, approximately ten per cent of the capacity of one of the ammonia plants in Sluiskil, based on dedicated renewable energy supply from Ørsted’s offshore wind farms.

Ørsted is about to inaugurate its Borssele 1&2 offshore wind farm, the second biggest in the world, located off the coast of Zeeland close to the Sluiskil plant.

“Ørsted is committed to investing in renewable hydrogen production at scale, and with the right support in place this joint flagship project between Yara and Ørsted will not only lead to a significant reduction of CO2 emissions, but also help mature the technology for the wider decarbonisation of European industry,” said Martin Neubert, Executive Vice President and CEO of Ørsted Offshore.

Ørsted and Yara will now seek public co-funding for the development and construction of the 100 MW electrolyser facility to support the project. Subject to sufficient co-funding and a confirmed business case, a final investment decision to build the new plant could be taken late 2021 or early 2022.

If the required public co-funding is secured and the right regulatory framework is in place, the project could be operational in 2024/2025.

“Green ammonia can be essential to enable sustainable food production, in addition it is emerging as the most promising carbon neutral energy carrier for several energy applications, such as decarbonized shipping fuel. Teaming up with Ørsted in this project in the Netherlands represents a major step forward in enabling Yara to deliver on its strategic ambitions,” said Terje Knutsen, Executive Vice President and head of Farming Solutions in Yara.