State-owned firms plan $4bn nuclear hydrogen project in Indonesia powered by 1GW of small modular reactors
The unnamed facility would produce one million tonnes of pink ammonia a year — providing enough fertilser to grow food for 45 million people
A new 1GW nuclear power plant dedicated to the production of clean hydrogen and ammonia will be built in Indonesia, if plans unveiled by two local state-owned firms, three Danish companies and one Swedish manufacturer go ahead as planned.
Hydrogen: hype, hope and the hard truths around its role in the energy transition
The company produced 2.9 million tonnes of grey ammonia from unabated natural gas in 2021, according to its latest annual report.
The other four project partners all have a specific role to play:
- Danish equipment maker Topsoe will provide solid-oxide electrolysers, which are the most efficient on the market when make use of industrial waste heat, such as that found at nuclear power plants, as well as ammonia synthesis technology;
- Swedish manufacturer Alfa Laval will deliver heat exchangers and desalination equipment to produce ultra-pure water for the electrolysis process — using waste heat from the electrolysers;
- Danish concentrating-solar-power specialist Aalborg CSP will design and supply molten-salt energy-storage and steam boiler systems;
- Pertamina New & Renewable Energy, a subsidiary of state-owned oil & gas company Pertamina, will “find a feasible process to produce hydrogen whilst utilising molten salt reactor[s] and suitable electrolysers and other key components (water supply, steam boiler, steam generator, and air separation unit).”
The six companies will work together on a feasibility study over the next six months.
Although the project economics have not been finalised, “the construction is expected to cost around $4bn”, not including operations and maintenance, according to a joint press release.
“Therefore, the Danish players expect that there will be demand for similar facilities elsewhere in the world.”
The MoU was signed by representatives of all six companies on Friday at Topsoe’s headquarters in Lyngby, Denmark.
(Copyright)