The MoU sets the scene for Plug to agree to develop a Basic Engineering and Design Package (BEDP) for Allied Green Ammonia’s (AGA) proposed green ammonia facility in the Northern Territory.
Expected to produce 2,500 tonnes of green ammonia per day, the plant will use renewable energy and energy infrastructure in the Gove Peninsula, with a view to export to the Asian market.
With the BEDP expected to advance this month (May 2024), the pair intend to make final investment decision (FID) in Q4 2025, with electrolyser deliveries planned to start in Q1 2027.
AGA previously said it expected to start producing green ammonia between Q4 2028 and Q1 2029.
Alfred Benedict, founder and Managing Director of AGA, said the MoU with Plug was a “strong vote of confidence” in the Australian firm’s capabilities.
“This agreement is a critical first step and a testament to the alignment of our respective visions to provide tangible solutions that enable the world to achieve Net Zero,” Benedict added.
Last November (2023), AGA signed a contract with Topsoe to supply green ammonia technology for the plant, with the potential for the Danish firm to provide its solid oxide electrolysis (SOEC) technology.
Read more: Topsoe collaborates with Allied Green Ammonia to develop Australian plant
Plug CEO, Andy Marsh, said the US green hydrogen company’s “expertise in constructing and operating” large-scale hydrogen plants and its PEM electrolyser manufacturing, position it to be the “ideal partner” for the project.
The announcement follows other BDEP contracts, totalling some 4.5GW of electrolysis capacity across the US and Europe.
Will green ammonia overtake hydrogen?
Here’s a curious fact. The largest green hydrogen projects in operation today are small in comparison to the green hydrogen and green ammonia projects of the 50-year period from 1928 to the 1970s. From this point on, however, cheap natural gas meant that ammonia production on electrolysers was no longer economic.
A brief recap of those pioneering projects. In Norway, two mega-projects used green hydropower to make hydrogen on electrolysers. Rjukan started up in 1928 with 165 MW of power flowing to 150 electrolyser modules generating 27,900 Nm3/hr of green hydrogen.
At a similar scale, also using Norwegian hydropower, Glomfjord commenced in 1949. Both schemes used atmospheric pressure, alkaline electrolysis. The hydrogen was converted to ammonium nitrate, a fertiliser…
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