Trafigura sets out to build green ammonia bunker production facility in Norway
Commodities trading giant Trafigura has partnered with Germany-based startup Hy2gen and Danish fund management company Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners (CIP) to produce green ammonia as marine fuel in the municipality of Sauda, on the southwestern coast of Norway.
The consortium plans to invest in the production, storage and shipping facility, which Trafigura said is expected to employ about 50 people and create a further 100 indirect jobs. The facility, named Iverson eFuels, will be jointly owned and have an initial electrolyzer capacity of 240 MW to produce 600 metric tons of green ammonia per day, with the aim of significantly scaling up production in the future.
“Availability of zero emission alternative fuels such as green ammonia is an important pre-requisite to decarbonising the global shipping industry. We also urgently need global policy-makers to cost neutralise the use of zero carbon fuels through carbon pricing measures to drive demand and enable to radically reduce emissions,” stated Rasmus Bach Nielsen, Trafigura’s global head of fuel decarbonisation.
A pre-study was completed in 2021 in collaboration with Norconsult, and the project owners have now begun the front-end engineering design (FEED) phase, which will result in a detailed plan for the construction of the facility by 2023. Following a final investment decision, construction will begin in the first quarter of 2024, with the facility fully operational at the beginning of 2027.
