Industrial gases firm Linde has signed an offtake agreement with fertiliser giant OCI to supply blue hydrogen to its 1.1mn t/yr ammonia facility in Beaumont, Texas.

Linde will build, own and operate an onsite complex that will use autothermal reforming with CCS as well as a large air separation plant. The new complex will be integrated into Linde’s existing Gulf Coast industrial gas infrastructure to serve additional and existing customers.

Linde plans to invest $1.8bn into the facility, with startup scheduled for 2025. The company recently announced an operating profit of $5.4bn for 2022 and expects 2023 capex to be $3.5–4bn.

“Linde’s capabilities are already enabling the transition to a low-carbon-intensity economy,” says CEO Sanjiv Lamba. “Our strategy is to support decarbonisation by working with offtakers, like OCI, to safely and reliably supply low-carbon industrial gases at scale.”

“Our strategy is to support decarbonisation by working with offtakers, like OCI, to safely and reliably supply low-carbon industrial gases at scale” Lamba, Linde

“With Linde’s track record in successfully executing complex projects, its extensive pipeline network, and support from the US Inflation Reduction Act, the company is well positioned to secure many more clean energy projects,” he adds.

OCI broke ground on its ammonia facility, described as the first greenfield blue ammonia project of its scale in the US, in December last year. It similarly plans for production to begin in 2025, with potential to further increase capacity to 2.2mn t/yr in future.

“The Beaumont facility will allow us to build and strengthen our world-leading blue ammonia and clean fuels platform, supplying both the US and export markets with blue ammonia, an ideal solution to decarbonise hard-to-abate sectors such as agriculture, power and marine fuels at a competitive cost,” says Ahmed el-Hoshy, CEO of OCI.

OCI has indicated that the Beaumont facility may switch its feedstock from blue to green hydrogen as the latter variety becomes more available.

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Author: Polly Martin