The 1.1Mtpa blue ammonia facility, targeting launch in Q1 2025, will have infrastructure that can double capacity.

Site works are set to start in the coming weeks, with engineering and procurement awarded to Maire Tecnimont.

OCI said the passage of the US Inflation Reduction Act and enhanced 45Qs to reduce emissions strengthened the project’s attractiveness.

Blue ammonia will be delivered in future to customers in zero-carbon ammonia-fuelled ships.

The US Gulf’s benign location enables it to serve the domestic market and export clean ammonia as a hydrogen carrier.

Ahmed El-Hoshy, CEO of OCI, said alongside its existing blue and green ammonia projects in the US and the Netherlands, Fertiglobe in the Middle East and North Africa, and green methanol business, this facility will allow it to strengthen its ammonia and clean fuels platform.

OCI has also entered into long-term agreements with Navigator and Enerflex for a project to capture and sequester carbon dioxide (CO2) produced on site at Iowa Fertilizer Company (IFCo), a wholly owned subsidiary of OCI. The project is also targeting a Q1 2025 completion.

Navigator will provide CO2 transportation and storage services on its CCS system, the Heartland Greenway, and Enerflex will engineer, fabricate and install a modularised CO2 capture solution to capture IFCO’s CO2.

The first phase, abating up to 40% of IFCo’s CO2 emissions from the ammonia production process will help contribute to the 20% reduction target in greenhouse gas intensity by 2030 and carbon neutrality by 2050.

The company is also studying a phase two for the CCS project, which would reduce post-combustion CO2 streams up to c.700 kt per year, and could materially store all of IFCo’s emissions.

El-Hoshy added, “This project is a good example of OCI leveraging in existing infrastructure to reduce carbon in a financially attractive way.”