Danes to build world’s first commercial-scale green ammonia plant

LONDON (ICIS)–Plans for the world’s first green commercial-scale ammonia plant to be built in Denmark were unveiled on Wednesday, with the Danish project’s backers looking to accelerate the global transition to renewable energy.

The project has been developed by Skovgaard Invest, supported by Vestas, a sustainable energy solutions provider, and Haldor Topsoe, a leading designer of catalysts, technology, and services for the chemical and refining industries.

Scheduled to launch in 2022, the facility in Western Jutland will produce more than 5,000 tonnes/year of green ammonia from renewable power for use in agricultural and industrial applications.

Output from the 10MW plant will prevent 8,200 tonnes of CO2 from being emitted into the atmosphere every year, with the two backers jointly investing in the project and applying for public co-funding.

Describing the plant as a “dynamic, scalable and cost-optimized solution”, the pair noted existing Vestas wind turbines and 50 MW new solar panels will power an electrolyzer unit that will produce hydrogen for use as ammonia, a process known as “Power-to-X”.

“This project proves to the world that we can produce a very clean fuel from renewable power at industrial scale as soon as in 2022,” said  Kim Grøn Knudsen, chief strategy and innovation officer, Haldor Topsoe.

“We have available the technologies we need to begin the transition towards renewable fuels and reduce carbon emissions, and with the innovations in this project, we push the limits for how fluctuating renewable energy is used in direct synthesis of clean fuels.”

“We expect this to be the first plant out of several in Western Jutland, where both existing and new onshore renewable power projects can deliver cheap renewable energy for Power-to-X applications,” added Jørgen Skovgaard of Skovgaard Invest.

“We have the ambition to develop more and larger Power-to-X projects in the region, and we see many potential off takers, for example within agriculture, the marine industry, and export potential out of nearby industrial harbours.”