Topsoe wins world’s largest ever hydrogen electrolyser order in 5GW green ammonia deal
First 500MW of capacity to be used at ‘world’s first commercial-scale green ammonia plants’ in US and Germany
Danish manufacturer Topsoe has signed a deal to provide 5GW of its solid-oxide electrolysers (SOEs) to First Ammonia (FA) — a New York City start-up backed by a $5.5bn hedge fund firm.
The electrolysers will be powered by renewable energy to produce green hydrogen, which would then be combined with nitrogen from the air to produce green ammonia — a substance used today mainly in the fertilizer and chemicals industries, but which could be a future shipping fuel or utilized as a hydrogen carrier.
The first 500MW of electrolyser capacity has already been allocated to FA’s first two facilities, in Wilhelmshaven, Germany, and the US Southwest.
“These projects will be the world’s first commercial-scale green-ammonia production facilities,” according to Topsoe.
Only two weeks ago, Topsoe announced that it had taken a final investment decision to build a 500MW SOE factory in central Denmark, with plans to eventually expand its annual manufacturing capacity to 5GW as the electrolyser market develops.
FA — an affiliate of Christofferson Robb & Company, a multinational financial firm with $5.5bn of assets under management — is also taking a novel approach to the sourcing of renewable energy, with a press release stated that the company will “operate all its plants dynamically to support existing renewable power markets”.
It adds: “By operating dynamically — producing ammonia during off-peak power demand hours — First Ammonia will be a net contributor to the economics of renewable power production, providing for the further build-out of additional renewable power wherever they build a production plant.”
FA may also use Topsoe’s ammonia production equipment at their plants, with CEO Joel Moser stating: “With their cutting edge SOE electrolysers and industry leading ammonia synthesis, we will develop facilities around the world to produce millions of tons of green ammonia from water and air.
“Ammonia saved humanity from starvation a century ago as a replacement for depleted sources of fertilisers, in large part due to Topsoe’s excellence.
“Ammonia can save humanity once again as the workhorse of the hydrogen economy, replacing petrochemicals to decarbonise agriculture, transportation and power storage and generation.”
“With an existing global ammonia infrastructure, green ammonia can quickly and easily replace hydrocarbon-based fuels for a wide range of use cases, with ammonia fueled ships already on order and ammonia power stations under development,” says the press release.
There are also safety concerns around using highly toxic ammonia as a shipping fuel.
“We need to accelerate the development and industrialisation of sustainable solutions, while also increasing energy independence,” said Topsoe CEO Roeland Baan. “With this agreement, we enable the production of millions of tons of green ammonia in support of the decarbonisation agenda.”