Yara to offtake green hydrogen-based ammonia from Egypt

Yara Clean Ammonia has signed a head of terms for the offtake of green hydrogen-based renewable ammonia produced in Egypt.

Under the deal, Yara will be supplied with renewable ammonia produced by Misr Fertilizers Production Company’s (MOPCO) existing plant in Damietta, Egypt, which is set to receive its hydrogen feedstock from a new electrolyser plant.

Last year, Scatec, Egyptian Petrochemicals Holding Company (ECHEM) and MOPCO entered agreements to develop and build up to 240MW of electrolysis powered by 480MW of renewables to supply green hydrogen to the Damietta facility.

Expected to produce up to 150,000 tonnes of ammonia per year, the project secured a Letter of Intent (LoI) from the European Investment Bank (EIB) for its long-term financing.

Now, Yara Clean Ammonia’s CEO, Hans Olav Raen, said the Egyptian project would strengthen the Norwegian firm’s sourcing of renewable ammonia.

“Once this project has reached a final investment decision (FID), the renewable ammonia from this project will help us reliably serve our customers across several market sectors,” he added.

Last month Yara’s 24MW renewable ammonia plant in Norway was inaugurated by the country’s Prime Minister.

Read more: Europe’s ‘largest’ hydrogen and ammonia production plant inaugurated

Egypt’s Petroleum and Mineral Resources Minister, Tarek El Molla, praised the move, saying it would help secure hydrogen investments and de-risk project implementation.

The agreement also comes shortly after one of Egypt’s largest fertiliser producers Abu Qir Fertilizers said it would partially replace natural gas with hydrogen amid fossil gas shortages.

Read more: Egyptian fertiliser major to switch to hydrogen amid natural gas shortage

While the source and supply of the hydrogen was not revealed, the move came as Egypt’s gas supplies have been ravaged following prolonged heatwaves in combination with the war in Gaza stopping gas flow from Israel.