Norwegian start-up looks to ship blue ammonia to Rotterdam
Norwegian carbontech start-up Horisont Energi has joined forces with the Port of Rotterdam to set up a corridor for the transport of blue ammonia from Norway to Rotterdam by 2025.
The partners have signed a memorandum of understanding, which will see them explore a collaboration to ship blue ammonia, produced in Northern Norway, from natural gas with carbon capture and storage, to the port of Rotterdam, where it will be received for further distribution to meet expected demand in northwestern Europe.
A final investment decision for the production of blue ammonia at the Horisont Energi’s Barents Blue project is expected towards the end of 2022. Once operational, Barents Blue will have a production capacity of 3000 tons of ammonia per day or 1m tons per year.
The port of Rotterdam is an energy hub port for western Europe, with some 13% of total energy demand in Europe entering the EU via Rotterdam. The port estimates the demand in Rotterdam is expected to be up to 20m tons of hydrogen, equivalent to 100m tons of ammonia, in 2050.
“There’s an important role for blue hydrogen if we want to realise the international climate ambitions. This is because especially in the coming years, there will not be enough green hydrogen to meet the demand. We’ll need every possible solution. We, therefore, focus not only on green but also on blue, just as we don’t only look at local production but also at imports,” said Nico van Dooren, director of new business at the Port of Rotterdam.
