Uniper and SKW Piesteritz pen ammonia and hydrogen partnership

May 1, 2024, by Aida Čučuk

German companies Uniper and SKW Piesteritz have signed an agreement to support each other in the supply, production and logistics of ammonia and hydrogen derivatives.

Among other things, the agreement calls for SKW Piesteritz to supply Uniper with sustainably produced ammonia, Uniper revealed, adding that it also covers the necessary distribution logistics, the expansion of production capacities and the conversion of ammonia into hydrogen. Furthermore, the two companies are expected to collaborate on imports.

Uniper claimed that the use of its import terminal in Wilhelmshaven, for example, will make it easier for SKW Piesteritz to import green ammonia, while in turn, SKW Piesteritz will provide Uniper with capacities in other European ports via its parent company AGROFERT.

Carsten Poppinga, CCO of Uniper, said: “In collaboration with SKW Piesteritz, we ensure that we can procure and provide sufficient quantities of sustainable ammonia and hydrogen derivatives for our customers. A diversified, flexible and sustainable supply must become greener in the future – with this agreement we come a lot closer to this goal.”

Petr Cingr, CEO of SKW Piesteritz, stated: “In addition to our own technology development projects for our production facilities, the cooperation with Uniper is another component of our strategy to defossilise our products in the long term. We are already helping our customers to sustainably reduce their carbon footprint. In future, we will optimise this. In addition to blue ammonia, green ammonia will become an important component here.”

To remind, in 2024, Uniper outlined plans for the expansion of its Humber H2ub project at the Killingholme site in the Humber region of the UK to include green hydrogen. Furthermore, the company signed an agreement with Swedish power company Jämtkraft to secure access to land and electricity grid connection for its sustainable electrofuel project NorthStarH2 in Östersund, Sweden.

Uniper intends to be completely carbon-neutral by 2040 and aims for its installed power generating capacity to be more than 80% zero-carbon by 2030. To achieve this, the company said it is transforming its power plants and facilities and investing in flexible, dispatchable power-generating units.