Saudi government-affiliated Acwa Power aims to develop a third large-scale green ammonia production facility based on the concept used for its existing projects in Saudi Arabia and Oman, according to the company’s global head of hydrogen Andrea Lovato.

The next project is expected to be in one of the regions where Acwa is already present—which include northern and southern Africa and the Mideast Gulf region.

“The aim for us is to replicate the [Neom] concept and reduce the cost,” Lovato told Hydrogen Economist on the fringes of the Energy Intelligence Forum in London.

“It should be in a region where these is combined solar and wind, and being close to Europe is better.”

FID on the $5bn Neom project, which Acwa is developing with US industrial gases company Air Products and Saudi state economic zone developer Neom, is on track for the end of this year, with commercial operations starting in 2026, Lovato says. The project will deploy a 2GW electrolyser to produce 1.2mn t/yr of green ammonia, using more than 4GW of renewable power.

“The aim for us is to replicate the concept and reduce the cost” Lovato, Acwa Power

The Oman project, developed with Air Products and Omani state-owned energy group OQ, is running about two years behind Neom, he adds.

Lovato declined to comment on the potential partners for future projects but stressed that it has a “strong cooperation” with its current partners.

Air Products is well-placed to develop large-scale cracking technology for conversion of green ammonia back to hydrogen when it reaches demand centres such as Europe, he says.

Amin Nasser, CEO of state-owned oil company Saudi Aramco, told the forum that low-carbon hydrogen will be a growth market but faces infrastructure and cost challenges.

“We have identified customers in East Asia, in Japan and South Korea,” he says. “For the hydrogen price to go down you need to scale up, and you need an offtake agreement for at least 15-20 years. Customers are looking for hydrogen, but not at any cost.”

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Author: Stuart Penson