World’s first commercial shipment of hydrogen-derived 'clean' ammonia to travel from Saudi Arabia to South Korea by end of year
Lotte Fine Chemical to import 50,000 tonnes of blue NH3 produced by Saudi Aramco subsidiary
The world’s first commercially produced “clean” ammonia will be shipped from Saudi Arabia to South Korea by the end of this year, according to the buyer, Lotte Fine Chemical.
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A contract to deliver 25,000 tonnes of blue ammonia — derived from natural gas with most of the carbon captured and then utilised — was signed last week between Korean firm Lotte, Saudi Aramco subsidiary Sabic, and Saudi state-owned fertiliser producer Ma’aden.
However, there are question marks over how “clean” both the ammonia and the shipments will be.
“This contract marks a new turning point in building a global clean hydrogen/ammonia supply chain for carbon neutrality,” said Lotte Fine Chemical.
“There have been MOU [memorandum of understanding] agreements for the promotion and supply of clean hydrogen/ammonia production projects in countries around the world, but this is the first case of a commercial production of clean ammonia [as part of a] supply contract.”
Abdulrahman Shamsaddin, Sabic’s business head of agri-nutrients, said: “This contract is an important milestone on our carbon-neutral journey. By supplying the world's first clean ammonia, we are proud to help pave the way for future low-carbon hydrogen supply for a variety of applications.”
The statement also points out that “if the technology to convert ammonia into hydrogen is commercialised, it can be used as a clean hydrogen carrier and as a raw material for clean hydrogen”.
Lotte Group plans to produce 1.2 million tonnes of clean hydrogen by 2030 for both its own utilisation and wider distribution.
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