Ammonia is one of the most widely produced and used chemicals in the world, with a market size of about 180 million tons/year and seaborne trade of about 20 million tons/year. Ammonia-related storage and transportation regulations, standards and infrastructure are well established. Green ammonia is a very promising development direction for hydrogen energy, which is obtained by synthesizing green hydrogen and nitrogen under the action of catalyst. On the one hand, green ammonia can be used as a carrier for green hydrogen to solve the hydrogen storage and transportation problem. On the other hand, green ammonia can be used directly in fuel cells or as a fuel for combustion.
Green hydrogen production from renewable energy sources by electrolysis of water and catalytic synthesis of ammonia from green hydrogen and nitrogen are the first technological routes to industrial production of green ammonia. In addition, cutting-edge green ammonia production technologies include electrochemical nitrogen reduction (NRR) ammonia synthesis technology and photocatalytic ammonia synthesis process. Liquid ammonia has a higher hydrogen content per unit volume than liquid hydrogen and is extremely competitive as a green hydrogen storage and transportation carrier. The ammonia to hydrogen process is divided into two parts: ammonia decomposition and variable pressure adsorption purification.
According to the statistics of Asiachem Consulting, several hydrogen-ammonia integration projects have started to be signed or filed in China.
Tongliao 10 million kilowatt-class hydrogen and ammonia storage integrated zero carbon industrial park:
On September 8, Tongliao Municipal People's Government, China Investment Association and China Tianying signed the "Strategic Cooperation Framework Agreement" together. The three parties reached a strategic cooperation around the construction of Tongliao 10 million kilowatt hydrogen and ammonia storage integrated zero carbon industrial park. The project includes 6GW of wind power generation, 4GW of photovoltaic power generation, 2GWH of gravity energy storage, 50,000 tons/year of green hydrogen and 300,000 tons/year of green ammonia, with a total investment of RMB 60 billion. The three parties will also work together to build a zero carbon industry equipment manufacturing center. Focus on building a zero carbon equipment manufacturing center for gravity energy storage, green hydrogen, green ammonia, and biomass in the north. The total investment will be RMB 10 billion. They will also jointly initiate the establishment of Gravity Energy Storage Research Institute, Green Hydrogen Research Institute, Green Ammonia Research Institute, and Biomass Energy Research Institute.
Wind power, PV, hydrogen storage and green ammonia project in Duolun County:
On August 14, a consortium led by Beijing Energy International Holdings Co., Ltd. and the People's Government of Duolun County, Xilinguole League, Inner Mongolia signed a framework agreement for the cooperation and development of the scenery hydrogen storage and green ammonia project. After the completion of the project, it is expected that the scale of electrolytic hydrogen production will be 300 tons per day, and the scale of annual green ammonia production will reach 600,000 tons.
Ulaat scenery hydrogen ammonia integration project:
On July 12, a new demonstration project of Wind-power-PV-hydrogen-ammonia integration in Ulatzhong Banner Ganqimadu Port Processing Park of China Energy Group Guohua Investment Mengxi Company was recorded. The project is located in Inner Mongolia Bayannur City, Ulaitzhong Banner Ganchi Maodu Port Processing Park, covering an area of about 300 acres. The planned total investment is 2.3 billion yuan. Supporting the planning of new energy installed capacity of 1.1 million kilowatts, including 800,000 kilowatts of wind power, 300,000 kilowatts of photovoltaic.
The project will use wind power to decompose water to produce high quality hydrogen, which will then be used to produce ammonia. The annual output is about 300,000 tons of green ammonia for the chemical production in the industrial park in the western part of Mongolia. After completion, the annual electricity consumption will be about 3.031 billion kWh, the annual production of one ton of ammonia will consume about 164 kg of standard coal and emit 0.54 tons of carbon dioxide. It is expected to save 109,200 tons of standard coal of equivalent value per year, and the energy consumption is much lower than that of traditional fossil energy for hydrogen production.
China Energy Alashan High-tech Zone megawatt scenery hydrogen ammonia + infrastructure integrated low-carbon park demonstration project:
On May 5, Alashan League 2022 spring alliance focused on signing a contract, which includes the China Energy Alashan High-tech Zone Million Kilowatt Wind Power and PV to Hydrogen Ammonia + Infrastructure Integration Low-carbon Park Demonstration Project.
The total investment of the project is expected to be RMB 13.7 billion, including RMB 1.3 billion for the hydrogen-ammonia project.
After completion, the project will generate 4.759 billion kWh of new energy generation per year and produce 700,000 tons of ammonia per year, with 200,000 tons of ammonia and 40,000 standard cubic meters of hydrogen per year in the first phase of implementation. The renewable energy utilization rate of the project reaches 94.73%. After the completion of the project, the annual carbon dioxide emission reduction is about 4.75 million tons, and the annual profit and tax is about 200 million yuan.
Chifeng wind power and PV to green hydrogen and green ammonia integration demonstration project:
On March 28, Chifeng Municipal People's Government and Envision Group held a signing ceremony for a strategic cooperation agreement. According to the agreement, Vision Group will build a demonstration project of green hydrogen and green ammonia integration in Chifeng City with a total investment of about 40 billion yuan, which is expected to be completed and put into operation before 2028. Among them, the project plans to produce 1.52 million tons of zero-carbon industrial gas products annually, and the first phase of the project will be put into operation within two years, becoming the world's first zero-carbon hydrogen ammonia project.v
Damao Banner wind power and PV to hydrogen production and green flexible chemical integration of green hydrogen to ammonia (green ammonia) project.
On March 18, Baotou Damao Banner wind power and PV to Hydrogen Production and Green Flexible Chemical Integration Green Hydrogen to Synthetic Ammonia (Green Ammonia) Project was approved for public record. on June 22, the project was started. The project is jointly invested by SPIC and Tsinghua Strait Research Institute, with Intelligent Energy (NNEPI) as the EPC lead party. The project is located in Darhan Maomingan United Banner, Baotou City, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, mainly including 200 MW wind power and 200 MW photovoltaic, with an expected annual power generation of 1.25 billion kWh; using wind power and PV to water electrolysis to produce hydrogen, with an annual production of 17,800 tons of hydrogen; and then using hydrogen and nitrogen as raw materials to synthesize liquid ammonia products, with an annual production of 100,000 tons.
According to "China Green Ammonia Industry Chain Annual Report 2022", there are more than 40 green ammonia projects in the world, and the total capacity of green ammonia is more than 15 million tons/year. International energy and chemical giants BP, Total, ExxonMobil, BASF, etc. have entered the green ammonia track; China Energy Group, SPIC, Beijing Energy Group and other domestic energy giants have also laid out a number of green ammonia demonstration projects in the "Three Norths" region.
In addition to being a green hydrogen storage and transportation carrier, green ammonia is an important energy source in its own right. As a carbon-free hydrogen-rich compound that can be burned directly, ammonia is a zero-carbon alternative fuel. Green ammonia synthesized through clean low-carbon hydrogen is considered to be an ideal clean energy carrier.
Ammonia energy has many advantages compared to hydrogen energy. From the energy consumption point of view, the energy consumption of ammonia synthesis is comparable to that of hydrogen liquefaction. From the perspective of storage and transportation, liquid ammonia storage and transportation is more convenient. On the one hand, ammonia transportation regulations are sound and existing transportation infrastructure can be used. On the other hand ammonia storage and transportation costs are lower, with at least 60% more hydrogen in the same volume of liquid ammonia than liquid hydrogen. A storage tank of the same mass of liquid ammonia is 0.2% to 1% of a liquid hydrogen tank in terms of cost and 1% to 10% of a liquid hydrogen tank in terms of weight.
In recent years, China has paid increasing attention to the development and utilization of ammonia energy. The National Development and Reform Commission and the National Energy Administration emphasized the hydrogen-based energy storage and low-carbon fuel properties of ammonia in “The ‘14th Five-Year Plan’ new energy storage development implementation plan” released in March this year. Ammonia has been transformed from a fertilizer and chemical raw material to a new energy source with "zero carbon" significance.
Ammonia energy downstream applications are mainly ammonia gas turbines (power generation), ammonia internal combustion engines (mainly for ships), and ammonia combustion for heating (providing high temperature). At present, Foshan, Hefei and Inner Mongolia have hydrogen-ammonia combustion demonstration projects (including power generation, pottery production, etc.); Fuzhou has started project demonstration from the perspective of energy storage; Hefei is also experimenting with ammonia energy engines and is expected to be the first to achieve a breakthrough in localization. Ningxia, Foshan and Fuzhou have concentrated on setting up relevant working task forces, alliances and other professional institutions.
Domestic ammonia energy downstream application projects
Date | Related Companies | Related Events |
January 2022 | China Energy Group | The world's first "coal-fired boiler mixed ammonia combustion technology" application project developed by China Energy Group was successfully put into operation in Yantai, Shandong Province. The technology realized that the 40MW coal-fired boiler burns 35% ammonia blended fuel, the boiler runs smoothly, the efficiency is higher than the pure coal-fired condition under the same load, the NOx concentration at the end of the boiler is lower than the pure coal-fired condition, and the NH3 combustion rate reaches 99.99%. |
April 2022 | Wenergy | Institute of Energy of Hefei Comprehensive National Science Center and Wenergy Group successfully cooperated to develop 8.3MW pure ammonia burner, which is the first of its kind in China. It was successfully ignited at one time in the 300MW thermal power unit of Tongling Power Generation Company of Wanergy Company and operated stably for more than 2 hours. This marks the key progress of the demonstration project of comprehensive utilization of ammonia energy for power generation. The next step will be to further optimize the design of the burner and other key equipment based on the test data, and gradually extend it to 600,000 and 1,000,000 MW units to form a larger-scale demonstration application. |
April 2022 | SPIC | SPIC Beijing Heavy Duty Gas Turbine Technology Research Co., Ltd. and Institute of Energy of Hefei Comprehensive National Science Center signed a strategic cooperation. The two sides will use their respective technical advantages and R&D conditions to focus on joint efforts in the fields of hydrogen energy and ammonia applications, gas turbine technology, nuclear fusion, etc. |
December 2021 | Foshan Xianhu Laboratory, Oceano, DLT | The three parties have jointly built the first green energy industry innovation platform - Advanced Zero Carbon Combustion Technology Joint Innovation and Research Center, which carries out research and development of zero carbon combustion technology for ammonia-hydrogen high temperature kilns in China. The three parties have made major breakthroughs in several key zero-carbon combustion technologies such as "ammonia-natural gas mixed combustion low-carbon combustion, ammonia-hydrogen mixed combustion zero-carbon combustion and zero-carbon pure ammonia combustion". Achieved full ammonia stable combustion in the laboratory. Ceramic industry's first real "zero carbon" combustion kiln and the industry's first real sense of "zero carbon tile" will be born. |
December 2019 | Shanghai Ship Research and Design Institute | The institute completed the development and design of 180,000-ton ammonia-fueled bulk carrier and obtained the AiP certificate from Lloyd's Register of Shipping. |
December 2021 | Jiangnan Shipyard | Jiangnan Shipyard, together with CSBC Trading Company and JS & Co. signed a memorandum of cooperation for 2+2 VLACs of 93,000m3. The VLAC will be equipped with an ammonia-powered main engine and optionally two deck ammonia fuel tanks to facilitate ammonia fuel supply when needed for transporting other goods for trade. Liquid ammonia can also be used as an intermediate carrier for hydrogen transportation. When completed, the vessel may become the world's largest ammonia-powered vessel. |
August 2022 | Fuzhou University Zijin School Hydrogen | The first ammonia on-site hydrogen production and hydrogen refueling demonstration station in China was launched in Changle, Fuzhou. |
It should be noted that green ammonia technology has not yet been commercialized and its downstream application market is still in the exploration stage. From all perspectives, green ammonia still has a long way to go. Laying out the downstream application technology before the domestic green ammonia capacity explodes will help to seize the opportunity. Diversification of energy technologies is also an important means to ensure China's energy security. To accelerate the shaping of the green ammonia industry, more policy support is needed first. Secondly, we need to carry out relevant demonstration projects according to local conditions and strive for commercialization. Eventually, the market will be developed and green ammonia will become an important part of the green energy system.
