Norway’s gas and hydropower resources and its favourable geography for carbon capture and storage (CCS) give it plenty of potential as a producer of blue and green hydrogen, but it is not yet clear the extent to which it will seek to export the fuel.

So far, there are only a few large-scale blue hydrogen and ammonia projects proposed in the country.

State-owned Equinor is planning c.460,000t/yr of blue hydrogen for export to Germany at its Norway Energy Hub, while Shell and Aker Horizons have plans for 230,000-575,000t/yr of blue hydrogen at the Aukra hub.

“It will take years to take the decision on a new hydrogen pipeline” Stevens, Saga Pure

And local firm Horisont Energi, which is 25pc owned by German utility Eon, is planning blue ammonia production of 1-3mn t/yr at the Barents Blue project in northern Norway, requiring c.180,000-540,000 t/yr of hydrogen production. It has signed a memorandum of understanding with the Port of Rotterdam and Netherlands-based Koole Terminals to supply ammonia by ship as soon as 2025.

The Norwegian government would do well to further incentivise investment in the sector, according to Rob Stevens, vice-president of ammonia opportunities at investor Saga Pure.

“It could secure the country's gas revenues for years to come,” he says.

Pipeline exports

Some export opportunities are developing. Norway and Germany recently signed an agreement to review the large-scale transport of hydrogen, including via pipeline, with blue hydrogen used for a transition period before production of the green variety is developed.

Norwegian gas transmission system operator Gassco tells Hydrogen Economist it is reviewing various options for transporting hydrogen, including blending with gas, building new pipelines or converting existing pipelines.

But ammonia exports by ship will happen much sooner, Stevens argues.

“It will take years to take the decision on a new hydrogen pipeline and years to build it,” he says.

CCS services

As well as domestic production, Norway can facilitate blue hydrogen production abroad by exporting natural gas and then importing and storing CO₂ captured in other countries.

The Northern Lights CCS consortium recently signed a deal to transport and store CO₂ captured from fertiliser producer Yara’s Sluiskil plant in the Netherlands under the Norwegian seabed.

This makes far more sense for Yara than importing blue ammonia from Norway, according to Magnus Krogh Ankarstrand, president of Yara Clean Ammonia. 

“Sluiskil is the largest ammonia and fertiliser plant in Europe,” he says. “Yara has all the infrastructure in place in Sluiskil.” 

Some new projects are also considering this method. Germany’s Wintershall Dea plans to produce 160,000t/yr of blue hydrogen using Norwegian gas at its Bluehynow project and transport the CO₂ back to Norway. This is part of its recently agreed partnership with Equinor to store CO₂ captured from industrial sites in Germany. Similarly, Equinor and German gas company VNG are planning a 230,000t/yr blue hydrogen facility in Rostock, Germany, using Norwegian gas and storing the CO₂ under Norwegian waters.

Bunkering

Another alternative to exporting hydrogen or ammonia would be to promote their use in local industries, including bunkering.

Yara estimates an aggressive policy push towards decarbonising shipping could create up to 1mn t/yr of ammonia demand in Norway by 2030 and 2mn t/yr by 2035.

460,000t/yr – Equinor’s planned blue hydrogen exports

Yara has ordered 15 floating bunker terminals aimed at developing a green ammonia bunkering network by 2024. It expects to install a pilot 24MW electrolyser at its Heroya facility next year, dedicated to producing 20,500t/yr of ammonia for fertiliser and shipping. It plans to scale up to 400,000t/yr at the site.

And US major ExxonMobil is exploring a green ammonia bunkering hub in northern Norway with Norwegian shipping company Grieg at Slagentangen, including 100,000t/yr of green ammonia production capacity. Grieg also has plans for 100,000t/yr of green ammonia for bunkering at Arendal by 2027.

Trader Trafigura is involved in a project targeting 219,000t/yr of green ammonia for bunkering at Sauda by 2027.

Norwegian investor Aker Horizons is also planning a 100,000t/yr green ammonia project in Berlevag, aimed at decarbonising arctic shipping in the Arctic.

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Author: Killian Staines