Commodity trading giant Trafigura has joined forces with US-based energy tech startup Amogy to study the use of ammonia as a carrier to transport green hydrogen.
Green hydrogen is an abundant and clean energy source, but its high volatility and very low density make it difficult and expensive to transport. An economically viable method is to convert hydrogen to ammonia for transportation and then release it at the point of use, which is achieved by cracking of ammonia into hydrogen. Currently, there are commercial processes and catalysts available, but at relatively high energy costs.
Amogy has developed a platform that converts ammonia back into hydrogen and, following successful demonstrations, the Amazon and Saudi Aramco-backed firm is now scaling up its proprietary cracking technology for use in larger applications. The Trafigura tie-up will research the feasibility of large-scale ammonia cracking to support the development of the hydrogen market and its supply to pipelines, fuel cell vehicles, steel manufacturing, and thermal power plants.Â
“Our partnership with Trafigura opens up tremendous opportunities for the Amogy team to better understand and explore our platform’s potential benefits at scale,” said Seonghoon Woo, chief executive and co-founder of Amogy.
The partnership will use economic models and energy demand forecasts to determine the viability and cost effectiveness of industrial scale ammonia crackers to fill the demand for hydrogen, starting with Europe, which is targeting 20m tonnes of consumption by 2030.
Trafigura has been exploring ammonia with Scandinavian fertiliser giant Yara and has a partnership with Germany-based startup Hy2gen and Danish fund management company Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners (CIP) to produce green ammonia in the municipality of Sauda, on the southwestern coast of Norway. The production facility is expected to be fully operational at the beginning of 2027.
“We believe ammonia cracking will be a key enabling technology for the large-scale uptake of clean hydrogen. Our work with Amogy will help us understand the economics of this supply chain, to deliver the most competitive low carbon hydrogen to our customers,” said Margaux Moore, head of energy transition research at Trafigura.
Amogy’ cracking technology recently received approval in principle from Lloyd’s Register which will be demonstrated for the first time in a maritime vessel in 2023. The company has also partnered with Norwegian ammonia-powered shipping and technology company Amon Maritime to advance carbon-free, ammonia power solutions for the global shipping industry. Amon Maritime has a portfolio of ammonia-powered ship newbuilding and bunkering projects for which Amogy power technologies will be evaluated for pilot projects and full-scale implementation.
