Topsoe, a global provider of advanced technology and solutions for the energy transition, has announced its selection as the ammonia technology licensor for ACWA Power’s Yanbu Green Hydrogen Project in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
The technology delivered by Topsoe will enable the produced green hydrogen from the Yanbu Project to be converted into ammonia. Besides the dynamic ammonia technology, Topsoe will also deliver engineering, proprietary equipment and catalysts to Sinopec and Tecnicas Reunidas, who have jointly been awarded the front-end engineering and design (FEED) -contract.
The agreement further strengthens the strategic partnership between Topsoe and ACWA Power, and by integrating Topsoe’s advanced dynamic ammonia technology, the project will support the production of green ammonia at scale.
Yassir Ghiyati, CCO at Topsoe, commented: “We are happy to expand our collaboration with ACWA Power on their impressive project. Green ammonia plays a critical role in reducing emissions from energy-intensive industries and long-distance transportation. We need to deploy decarbonization solutions on a global scale, and ACWA Power’s project will be able to deliver a strong contribution.”
Driss Berraho, EVP Business Development Green Hydrogen at ACWA Power, added: “As one of Saudi Arabia’s leading enablers of the green hydrogen economy, ACWA Power is developing full scale, utility-level facilities. Our collaboration with Topsoe at the Yanbu Green Hydrogen Project will convert competitive renewable-energy into green hydrogen-based fuels, including green ammonia, at industrial scale. This development strengthens the hydrogen corridors that will connect competitive renewable resources with global demand centres and contribute to achieving the Kingdom’s Vision 2030 industrial transformation.”
The Yanbu Green Ammonia Project is a large scale development for GW scale green hydrogen, and with Topsoe’s technology, ACWA Power will be able to convert the hydrogen into ammonia. The licensing agreement covers the first mega-scale green ammonia units in Yanbu, with a capacity of 2700 tpd and the interest to replicate the scheme in subsequent units.
Green ammonia is expected to play a critical role in the journey towards net zero: It can be transported using existing infrastructure; and it has multiple end-uses, not only as a fuel or hydrogen carrier but also to help decarbonise industrial processes like steel and cement production.
What is Topsoe’s dynamic ammonia technology
Topsoe’s dynamic ammonia technology adapts the production output of green ammonia in response to fluctuating supply of renewable electricity.
The dynamic ammonia process plant will enable:
- The ramping up/down of the ammonia production bidirectionally at a rate of at least 3% per minute in response to the fluctuating supply of hydrogen to the ammonia plant.
- Significant reduction in capital expenditure and operational expenditure since hydrogen storage systems can be reduced substantially, or otherwise eliminated.
- Renewable electricity to be stored in a zero-carbon chemical.