UK-headquartered Atome Energy has acquired a 75-acre (30-hectare) site for its Villeta green hydrogen production facility in Paraguay for $900,000.

The company signed a 60MW power-purchase agreement with national utility Ande earlier this year and has commissioned a Feed study. It anticipates taking FID on the project in the second half of 2022 and wants to complete the facility three years after that.

“The large 75-acre footprint not only enables Atome to have room for future expansion and facilitation of storage but also gives [the company] the scale to grow its business footprint and attract associated industries and provide new sustainable jobs,” says Atome CEO Olivier Mussat.

$900,000 – Paid for site

Villeta is an industrial centre with high levels of ammonia demand. The firm is still in negotiations with potential offtakers, which currently import their feedstock from Russia and China. The Villeta facility is the first phase in what is ultimately projected to result in c.400MW of capacity in Paraguay.

Atome has ordered an electrolyser for a second, larger supply project in the country that will produce more than 200,000t/yr of ammonia by 2027. This will be powered by the 250MW Itaipu dam hydropower project.

It has also launched a mobility division that aims to sell and deliver its first hydrogen for heavy transport use in Paraguay by the middle of next year. It hopes its first revenues will start to flow in 2023.

Portfolio of projects

The firm is also developing a 100MW green ammonia project in Iceland to be powered by geothermal energy, expected to become operational by 2025.

And it plans to develop further projects in other international jurisdictions, given projections of ongoing high ammonia prices, which have risen fivefold over the last two years to reach $1,500/t earlier this year on the back of higher gas prices—although these have since fallen slightly.

Atome says all chosen sites are located close to export facilities to enable them to serve foreign as well as domestic demand.

The firm listed on the AIM branch of the London Stock Exchange in December after being spun off from independent oil and gas company President Energy with a £9mn ($11.2mn) fundraise at 80p per share.

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Author: Tom Young