OCI secures hydrogen to boost green ammonia production

Chemical firm OCI Global has signed an offtake agreement with US energy firm New Fortress Energy (NFE) for green hydrogen from its Texas facilities from 2025.

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The green hydrogen will be produced with proton exchange membrane (PEM) at the upcoming NFE’s ZeroParks hydrogen facility in Texas. It will be delivered to OCI’s facilities in Beaumont, where it will then be converted into green ammonia and sold to shipowners and power plants.

NFE’s hydrogen facility will produce 50 mt/day of green hydrogen. It is expected to start production in the fourth quarter of 2024, followed by full commercial operations by 2025, its electrolyser supplier Electric Hydrogen said.

OCI plans to ramp up its green ammonia production in Beaumont significantly. It says the offtake agreement will enable it to double its green ammonia production from 80,000 mt/year in 2025, to 160,000 mt/year in 2026.

The company is also developing a blue ammonia production facility in Texas with German chemicals company Linde. Construction of the facility began in December last year and is expected to be fully completed by 2025. The blue ammonia site will be able to use green hydrogen as a feedstock to produce green ammonia in the future.

OCI says these investments have been made to meet future green ammonia demand from various sectors, including shipping.

By Nithin Chandran

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