Spanish energy firms Cepsa and Iberdrola have stepped up their efforts to establish an ammonia export corridor to the Dutch port of Rotterdam as they look to capture a significant share of northern Europe’s emerging low-carbon hydrogen market.

Both companies aim to ship green ammonia from Spanish production plants to the open access Ace terminal under development at Rotterdam by Dutch state-owned gas network operator Gasunie, storage operator Vopak and commodities handling specialist HES International.

“The Netherlands is uniquely positioned for hydrogen to become the gateway to northwest Europe” Vermeulen, Gasunie

The plans envisage cracking ammonia back to hydrogen at Rotterdam before onward transport via Gasunie’s hydrogen network to end-users in the Netherlands and neighbouring markets Germany and Belgium.

Iberdrola in mid-June signed a letter of intent with Gasunie and the other Ace shareholders to export ammonia via the infrastructure.

Separately, Cepsa agreed a strategic partnership with fertiliser group Yara, under which Yara will supply green ammonia to help the Spanish company “get a head start” in establishing the export corridor to the Netherlands. Cepsa signed a memorandum of understanding with Ace in February 2023, the terminal’s first agreement with a potential user of its facilities.

The increasingly close ties with Cepsa and Iberdrola are a boost for Ace as it looks to position itself as an important gateway for hydrogen imports.

“The Netherlands is uniquely positioned for hydrogen to become the gateway to northwest Europe,” says Ulco Vermeulen, member of Gasunie’s executive board. “With the North Sea, the seaports as logistical import hubs, large industrial clusters and the available sophisticated national hydrogen transport network, all the ingredients are present.”

The development of cracking facilities at Rotterdam will be crucial to its ability to compete with rival ports for ammonia imports. The Ace shareholders are part of a consortium led by the port of Rotterdam that recently commissioned a study into the viability of deploying a large-scale cracker to enable the import of 1mn t/yr of hydrogen.

Spain is also a partner on the planned H2Med pipeline, linking the country and Portugal to France and Germany. The 2mn t/yr pipeline is scheduled to begin operations in 2026, assuming financing has been secured.

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Author: Stuart Penson