Jera, Uniper partner on sourcing clean ammonia from US

Japanese utility Jera Co Inc and Germany’s Uniper SE (ETR:UN01) are working on procuring clean ammonia from the US.

The companies today announced a partnership to facilitate the development of clean ammonia production with an initial capacity of 2 million tonnes per year, potentially expanding to up to 8 million tonnes per year.

Jera Americas and ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) are proposing a facility on the US Gulf Coast that will produce hydrogen and convert it into clean ammonia for supply to Jera and Uniper under long-term agreements. A project engineering study for the project’s first phase, which will explore both green and blue hydrogen opportunities, is to be completed by the end of 2022, with commercial operation anticipated in the late 2020s .

The main initial export market will be Europe, but the project is also aimed at increasing ammonia supply to Japan and greater Asia.

“The combination of a skilled workforce, plentiful natural gas, abundant renewable resources, deep-water ports, and ideal CCS geology make the US Gulf Coast uniquely advantaged to produce the low carbon fuel to enable the Atlantic and Pacific energy markets transition,” Jera Americas Inc’s head Steven Winn said, adding that Jera and ConocoPhillips aim to be a low-cost ammonia supplier to domestic and international markets.

“I do not think we can underscore enough the importance of continued strong global relationships, particularly at this extraordinary time for both energy security and the energy transition,” remarked Uniper North America president and chief executive Marc Merrill. Uniper is targeting about 1 million tonnes per year of green ammonia from all sources by the end of the decade.

Jera and Uniper will also collaborate on jointly optimising their LNG portfolios for supply to Japan and Germany.

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