Topsoe to support CF Industries’ new low-carbon ammonia project in US

May 6, 2024, by Aida Čučuk

Danish technology company Topsoe has signed a contract with U.S. ammonia producer CF Industries for the licensing and engineering supporting a front-end engineering and design (FEED) study of a new low-carbon ammonia plant in Louisiana, U.S.

Specifically, Topsoe will license its SynCOR ammonia technology to CF Industries. According to Topsoe, this technology is based on advanced autothermal reforming principles, and when combined with carbon capture & storage (CCS), enables the production of low-carbon ammonia.

CF Industries is evaluating the ammonia project in Louisiana in collaboration with Japan’s Mitsui & Co, and were the project to move forward, it would produce low-carbon ammonia for use as a decarbonized energy source.

Henrik Rasmussen, Managing Director, The Americas, Topsoe, said: “We believe low-carbon ammonia helps unlock the door towards a net zero future. Our technology offers a cost-effective route to producing low carbon ammonia while also enabling carbon capture, at industrial proven scale. CF and Topsoe have a long-standing relationship spanning many decades and we are proud to extend our collaboration with this award.”

To remind, in April 2024, Topsoe chose Chesterfield, Virginia, U.S., to build a new factory that will manufacture solid oxide electrolyzer cells (SOEC) for the production of clean hydrogen and derivatives like eAmmonia and eMethanol.

The factory has a planned capacity of more than 1 GW, Topsoe revealed, adding that subject to the final investment decision (FID), the investment is expected to create at least 150 direct jobs in Virginia and more than 1,000 indirect jobs through the value chain.

As for CF Industries’ activities in 2024, the company executed a joint development agreement with Japan’s JERA to jointly explore the development of a low-carbon ammonia production project in the U.S. Under the agreement, JERA revealed the company is contemplating a 48% ownership stake in the project as well as an agreement to procure more than 500,000 tonnes of ammonia annually to meet the demand for low-carbon fuels in Japan.

According to JERA, the project is planned for an annual capacity of approximately 1.4 million tonnes of low-carbon ammonia which is to be located at CF Industries’ Blue Point Complex in Louisiana, and the two parties aim to reach an FID on the project within a year for commencing production in 2028.