Avina completes FEED for clean ammonia facility

With a final investment decision (FID) targeted in 2025, this is a major milestone for the industry as it represents the first announced completion of FEED for a large scale clean ammonia facility in the US.

KBR, a global leader in ammonia technology with decades of experience designing and executing large scale ammonia plants worldwide, had previously provided the basic engineering design (BED) package for the plant. KBR continued to support design activities, ensuring an advanced and efficient design tailored to meet stringent environmental and operational standards.

Larsen & Toubro (L&T) led the overall FEED effort, bringing its engineering, procurement and modularisation capabilities to support the project’s design and estimation. EXCEL, a leading construction contractor in the ammonia sector, led the constructability effort in FEED, leveraging their recent experience in executing similar world- class ammonia plants in the Texas Gulf Coast region. FEED scope included engineering design of ammonia synthesis loop, hydrogen and ammonia storage, electrolytic hydrogen production, renewable power integration and engineering design of OSBL facilities.

Advancing clean fuel production

The Gulf Coast Clean Ammonia facility is designed to meet the surging global demand for clean fuels. Scheduled to commence operations in 2028, it will produce up to 800 000 tpy of clean ammonia by utilising a blend of blue and electrolytic hydrogen. The facility will comply with Renewable Fuels of Non-Biological Origin (RFNBO) standards, aligning with EU guidelines. Additionally, facility will benefit from existing natural gas and carbon sequestration infrastructure in the Texas Gulf Coast.

Project highlights:

• Flexible hydrogen sources: The facility is designed to integrate up to 280 tpd of blue hydrogen, enabling the production of up to 600 000 tpy of blue ammonia. In addition, the FEED process included close collaboration with leading electrolyser manufacturers and renewable energy suppliers to optimise the plant design.
• Secured water supply and interconnection studies: Avina has signed long-term water supply agreement with the local water district, ensuring sufficient water access to produce 800 000 tpy of clean ammonia. Interconnection studies have been completed to ensure sufficient access to 1GW of transmission capacity.
• Low CI pre-certification: The overall facility is also well positioned to deliver low CI ammonia to the European RFNBO compliance markets at a highly competitive rate.
• Moreover, the green process has achieved Tier 1 Clean Hydrogen Pre-Certification from the Korean Energy Economics Institute (KEEI) with an outstanding Well-to-Gate carbon intensity (CI) score of 0.04 kgCO2e/kgH2.
• Oil & gas sector partnerships: The facility will take advantage of the vast network of pipelines, storage and terminal facilities operated by leading players in the oil & gas sector in the Texas Gulf Coast region.

“Our Texas Gulf Coast clean ammonia facility will leverage existing energy infrastructure, create several hundred high paying jobs and make US a dominant producer of next generation fuels. We are incredibly grateful to industry leading players such as KBR, L&T, and EXCEL that have each brought their highly valuable expertise to this ground-breaking project,” said Vishal Shah, Founder & CEO of Avina Clean Hydrogen Inc.

“KBR is pleased to witness Avina’s progress in its clean ammonia project and we are proud to support them with our leading ammonia technology offering for this world scale facility in Texas,” added Jay Ibrahim, KBR President, Sustainable Technology Solutions.

Derek M Shah, Senior Vice President & Head, L&T Energy Green Mfg. & Development, commented: “We are glad to have contributed to this groundbreaking initiative in large scale Clean Ammonia production, which aligns with our commitment to advancing sustainable energy solutions. Our integrated capabilities and proven track record in top-tier project management, advanced design & engineering along with world-class modular fabrication expertise will ensure the highest standards of execution for this landmark project.”

“EXCEL is excited to have contributed to the successful completion of the FEED Phase for the Avina Clean Hydrogen project. Our EPC Front-End Services division leveraged decades of expertise, while working with the Project partners, to deliver actionable and reliable information for enhancing project certainty with our client.

This milestone, and technology, marks another ‘first’ in the EXCEL portfolio of Clean Ammonia Projects. EXCEL is eager to continue our collaboration throughout the entire project lifecycle, as well as further contributions to Avina’s future endeavours,” shared Matthew Shoriak, Executive Vice President of EXCEL Group.

Read the article online at: https://www.globalhydrogenreview.com/hydrogen/13012025/avina-completes-feed-for-clean-ammonia-facility/