Trafigura, Hy2gen team up to study green ammonia as marine fuel

Germany-based green hydrogen production company Hy2gen and Swiss commodity trader Trafigura have joined forces on a study aimed at quantifying the needs of the shipping industry for green ammonia as the industry transitions to low and zero carbon maritime fuels.

The duo signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) on 23 July to develop the study.

As explained, the study will consider the necessary aspects to enable large-scale commercial adoption, including the required quantities of green ammonia, and the transport and storage capacities that will be needed.

Building the infrastructure to enable an efficient supply chain that can deliver sufficient quantities of 100 percent renewable and carbon-free green ammonia to market will demand enormous commitments in production, infrastructure and shipping upgrades that the study aims to quantify.

Based in Wiesbaden, Hy2gen AG brings together specialists with experience of developing, building and operating plants for the production of green hydrogen and hydrogen-based e-fuels, offering better ways to achieve CO2-free or CO2 neutral fuels and storage solutions. The first plants will be built in Canada, France, Germany and Norway.

Trafigura said it recognized the potential of Hy2gen for the industrial production of green hydrogen early on, and has been an investor in Hy2gen since 2019.

“We very much recognize their capacity to quickly execute projects of scale that can fast track the transition for the shipping industry to run on clean fuels,” Julien Rolland, Head of Power and Renewables for Trafigura, commented.

In June this year, Trafigura also entered into an MOU with Norway-based ammonia player Yara International to collaborate on the development and promotion of the use of ammonia as a clean fuel in shipping.

The two companies plan to explore possible opportunities to work together on certain clean — green and blue — ammonia fuel infrastructure and market opportunities.