Saudi-based ACWA Power and South Korean-based POSCO will join forces to develop new hydrogen and ammonia production projects, with an eye towards decarbonising POSCO’s power generation and steel making activities in South Korea. The pair are already significant players in the ammonia energy space, with POSCO setting ambitious goals for production & imports, and ACWA involved in multiple mega-projects in the Middle East.
When it comes to ammonia energy & Australia, the persistent theme for a few years now has been exports, exports, exports. But, does a domestic hydrogen & ammonia industry present the opportunity for Australia to move on from a “dig and ship mentality”? Can Australia develop an equivalent of the METS industry, providing the expertise, technology and services required to get more projects up-and-running overseas?
To explore these big questions, we welcome a terrific discussion panel: Cindy Lim (Keppel Infrastructure), Olivia Brace (Advisian), and Tim Rogers (Trafigura Group), and chair Penelope Howarth (Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade). And - in the session before we launch into discussion - we will hear updates from some of our key ammonia energy allies in APAC. Shigeru Muraki (CFAA, Japan), Hyung Chul Yoon (KIER, Korea) and Kashish Shah (IEEFA, India) will dial-in virtually to present the latest from their home countries. Join us in-person or online, and purchase your tickets by this Friday 5 August to secure the extended early-bird rate.
At this year’s Australia conference, we recognise that interest in Australian ammonia is on the rise. At previous conferences we’ve witnessed the strengthening of ties between Australia, Japan and South Korea, and this year we see a new player emerge. The EU’s growing ambitions have catapulted it into the ammonia conversation, and the nascent of an Australia-Europe ammonia supply chain is quickly developing. To give our audience the EU-perspective, we welcome a terrific virtual panel beaming in live from the Netherlands, Germany and Italy: Jill Thesen (Federation of German Industries), Martijn Coopman (Port of Rotterdam), Anna Fedeles (Austrade) and Anna Freeman (Clean Energy Council). Join us in-person or online, and make sure to register by the end of this week (Friday 29 July) to secure the early-bird rate.
Two recent reports (one from Bureau Veritas & Total, the other from the Together in Safety consortium) illustrate just how seriously the maritime industry is pursuing low carbon ammonia fuel. While progress in the maritime ammonia space is impressive, safety risks are widely-acknowledged and work remains to be done.
Both reports identify key hazards facing adoption of ammonia as a maritime fuel, and echo points heard before in the development of methanol & LNG as maritime fuels: high-risk hazards currently exist that must be eliminated, mitigated or controlled. But Together in Safety concludes the way forward will be via collaboration & shared responsibility - something we’re already seeing in the multiple high-profile safety studies and consortia working around the globe. Thankfully, the willingness of significant maritime players to engage on ammonia and the momentum for change are both high.
A new report from Indian government think-tank NITI Aayog and the Rocky Mountain Institute has outlined the enormous opportunity for India to produce renewable hydrogen & ammonia. Ammonia establishes itself early as a key part of this transition: both via the use of renewable hydrogen for fertiliser production, and as a near-term export vector. The report envisions 160 GW of installed electrolysers by 2030, of which nearly 100 GW could be dedicated to producing ammonia. This would make India one of the world’s largest producers of renewable ammonia for export by the end of the decade.
ABS has granted Approval in Principle to Keppel Offshore & Marine for an ammonia-fueled, ammonia bunkering vessel. The new vessel is a key component of Project Sabre: a high-profile consortium of maritime organisations aiming to commence ammonia bunkering in Singapore by 2030.
This week we explore four announcements in the maritime ammonia space: