Linde signs agreement to supply clean hydrogen to OCI blue ammonia project in Texas

HOUSTON (ICIS)–Gas producer Linde has announced it signed a long-term agreement to supply clean hydrogen and other industrial gases to OCI’s new world-scale blue ammonia plant in Beaumont, Texas.

Linde said it will build, own and operate an on-site complex which will include autothermal reforming with carbon capture, plus a large air separation plant, and will be integrated into their Gulf Coast industrial gas infrastructure.

The total investment will be approximately $1.8bn and the project is expected to start up in 2025 and will supply clean hydrogen and nitrogen to OCI’s 1.1m short ton/year blue ammonia plant, which is set to be the first US greenfield blue ammonia facility of this scale to come onstream.

Linde said it will supply clean hydrogen by sequestering more than 1.7m tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions per year.

In addition to supplying OCI, Linde is set to provide clean hydrogen to existing and new customers in the region, addressing the increasing demand from companies to decarbonize their operations. The facility will also supply atmospheric and rare gases to existing and new customers.

“Linde’s capabilities are already enabling the transition to a low-carbon-intensity economy. Our strategy is to support decarbonization by working with off-takers, like OCI, to safely and reliably supply low-carbon industrial gases at scale,” said Sanjiv Lamba, Linde CEO.

OCI said it sees the Beaumont facility as strengthening their world-leading blue ammonia and clean fuels platform which will allow them to supply both the US and export markets with blue ammonia which help decarbonize hard-to-abate sectors such as agriculture, power and marine fuels at a competitive cost.

“Linde’s expertise in managing large-scale and complex engineering projects, and safely and reliably delivering industrial gases, made it a solid choice as a partner for this project.” said Ahmed El-Hoshy, OCI CEO.