Hafnia, Clean Hydrogen Works partner to produce blue ammonia as a fuel
Singapore-based tanker company Hafnia has partnered with project developer Clean Hydrogen Works (CHW) and others to develop a new clean fuel production facility on the Mississippi River in Louisiana, US.
PHOTO: Concept design of an ammonia-powered ship. C-job Naval Architects
It will produce around 7.2 million mt/year of "blue" ammonia – using hydrogen and natural gas feedstocks – from late 2027. The ammonia is blue because CO2 emited during its production has been captured.
Hafnia will then transport this blue ammonia to global markets from 2028.
As a result, companies like Norway-based Amon Maritime, which is preparing to launch an ammonia-fuelled vessel fleet, could potentially benefit from this supply-side development.
CHW says ammonia can play a critical role in the global energy transition by drawing on and complementing renewables to decarbonise critical sectors, including the marine sector.
According to the International Energy Agency (IEA) and the classification society DNV, ammonia will dominate the bunker fuel transition and will overtake biofuels as the preferred fuel for green shipping by 2050.
During its production process, Hafnia and CHW's Mississippi River facility is projected to capture an estimated 12 million mt/year of carbon dioxide (CO2) at a capture rate of up to 98%.
This means that nearly 98% of the CO2 from the facility will be captured and stored, which is high compared to current industry norms.
"Today's standard carbon capture technology can capture 90% of carbon emissions but achieving zero emissions in the coming decades will require capturing the remaining 10%." explains the IEA.
Moreover, Hafnia and others are exploring additional technologies that could result in a "zero-carbon or carbon-negative hydrogen-ammonia production facility".
"The closer a carbon capture and storage system gets to 100% efficiency, the more challenging and more expensive it becomes to capture additional carbon dioxide," according to Howard Herzog, a senior research engineer at MIT's Energy Initiative.
CO2 captured at the Mississippi River facility will be transported and stored by Denbury Carbon Solutions, a US-based pipeline operator.
As of today, only a handful of carbon capture projects have achieved capture efficiencies greater than 95%, with ION Clean Energy's 98% demonstration rate being the most notable.
By Konica Bhatt
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