Yara plans green ammonia production in Norway

Norwegian fertilizer producer Yara has announced plans to produce 500,000 t/yr of green ammonia at its plant in Porsgrunn, Norway, and is looking for partners and government support.

Yara aims to fully electrify its ammonia plant in Porsgrunn, with the potential to cut 800,000 t/yr of CO2, equivalent to the emissions from 300,000 passenger cars. The firm aims to capture opportunities within shipping, agriculture and industrial applications in a market that it expects to grow by 60pc over the next two decades.

Ammonia's chemical properties make it ideally suited for the hydrogen economy. It does not require cooling to extreme temperatures and has a higher energy density than liquid hydrogen, making it more efficient to transport and store. This means it is the most promising hydrogen carrier and zero-carbon shipping fuel.

Yara is seeking partners and government support for the project, and if the required public co-funding and regulatory framework is given, the project could be operational in 2026. The project would eliminate one of Norway's largest static CO2 sources, and would be a major contributor for Norway to reach its Paris agreement commitments. Yara aims to fully remove CO2 emissions from its Porsgrunn ammonia production to produce emissions-free fuel for shipping, carbon-free fertilizer and ammonia for industrial applications.

Yara is targeting a 30pc reduction in Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions by 2030, and is committing to establishing targets based on an industry-shaping collaboration with producer Nutrien and the World Business Council for Sustainable Development. It also supports sectoral decarbonisation analysis for the nitrogen fertilizer industry.

The announcement today follows another green ammonia project planned in the Netherlands between Yara and Danish power firm Orsted. The companies announced plans in early October to develop a 100MW wind-powered electrolyser plant for the production of renewable hydrogen to replace fossil-based hydrogen. The renewable hydrogen will be used for ammonia production at Yara's Sluiskil facility in the Dutch province of Zeeland. The companies said the project could be operational by 2024-25, if the "required public co-funding is secured and the right regulatory framework is in place".