Shipping could require 3 million mt/year of low-carbon ammonia this decade – OCI Global

Potential bunker fuel demand for green and blue ammonia is estimated to reach 3 million mt/year by 2030, a spokesperson from OCI Global told ENGINE.

PHOTO: OCI Global's Beaumont facility in the US. OCI Global

The FuelEU Maritime regulation is expected to drive the adoption of green and blue ammonia and green methanol in the maritime sector, Dutch fuel producer OCI Global said in its second-quarter results presentation. The EU regulation will be implemented from 1 January 2025, and sets well-to-wake greenhouse gas (GHG) emission intensity requirements on energy used onboard ships over 5,000 gross tonnage (GT) in the EU.

Green ammonia is produced by combining green hydrogen with nitrogen obtained from the air through the Haber-Bosch process. Both hydrogen generation and Haber-Bosch processes are theoretically powered by renewable electricity in this production method.

Blue ammonia is typically blue hydrogen combined with nitrogen captured from the air and put through the so-called Haber-Bosch process. The hydrogen used here is fossil as it is produced from steam methane reforming or autothermal reforming of natural gas. But the carbon dioxide (CO2) emitted during this production process is captured, which can render it low- or zero-carbon.

DNV database shows that one ammonia-capable ship is currently in service and another 25 are on order for delivery towards 2027.

Methanol demand outlook

There are currently 49 methanol-capable ships in operation and another 269 on order for delivery towards 2028, according to DNV. The delivery of methanol-capable ships could drive green methanol bunkering demand to 8 million mt/year by 2028, the spokesperson said. The company predicts that green methanol demand will rise to 12 million mt/year by 2035.

OCI Global currently has a bio-methanol production capacity of up to 220,000 mt/year. The company plans to expand this capacity to at least 400,000 mt/year in response to increasing demand from the shipping sector, but it has not yet specified a timeline for this expansion.

OCI Global has not currently allocated any of its bio-methanol or green and blue ammonia production capacity specifically for bunkering, the spokesperson told ENGINE.

“However, we do expect to see a shift in allocation towards the marine fuel sector going into next year when FuelEU Maritime is in place and a large slate of new dual-fuelled vessels are delivered from shipyards,” he added.

By Konica Bhatt

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