(Rotterdam / Netherlands) – The port of Rotterdam is attracting a number of companies that want to build or massively expand import terminals for green ammonia and green hydrogen there. The latest announcement comes from U.S. industrial gases producer Air Products and Chemicals Inc. and Gunvor Petroleum Rotterdam (GPR), a subsidiary of Cypriot commodities trader Gunvor Group.
According to the information, the companies plan to put an import terminal for green hydrogen into operation in 2026. A corresponding cooperation agreement has now been signed. According to the news agency “Reuters”, this is not yet a final investment decision.
Contribution to the EU energy transition goals
Producing green hydrogen – a key to the energy transition – requires “a significant amount of renewable energy,” explains Air Products. It is “unlikely that Europe is able to produce these quantities locally, so large-scale imports of green hydrogen are essential”. With this project, the Netherlands would “make a leading contribution to the EU’s energy transition goals”.
Certification of green hydrogen is necessary to ensure that the energy source transported in the form of green ammonia is recognized and counted towards the EU's renewable energy targets. In order to attract financial support, the aim is to be recognized as an “Important Projects of Common European Interest (IPCEI). An “IPCEI” is a transnational project that uses state funding to contribute to the growth, employment and competitiveness of European industry and economy. In any case, the partners must contribute a significant amount of their own.
Rotterdam as a strategically important location
The Gunvor site in Europoort Rotterdam is one of several European sites that Air Products is considering for the development of a green hydrogen import terminal. It provides strategic access to ammonia from large production facilities operated by Air Products and its partners around the world. The green ammonia will be converted into hydrogen and distributed to markets in Europe, including the Netherlands, Germany and Belgium.
Thousands of new jobs possible
An analysis by the consulting firm CE Delft showed that the project would generate indirect economic benefits of between 260 and 425 million euros, which would result in “thousands of new jobs in the coming years”. The saving of carbon dioxide emissions in the transport sector, combined with the reduction of other harmful emissions, will create a total environmental benefit of over 2030 million euros by 100. 
The plans are “an excellent example of using a brownfield site to build a new import terminal for environmentally friendly ammonia in the port of Rotterdam,” says its managing director Allard Castelein. Green ammonia is not only a hydrogen carrier and a raw material for the chemical industry, but also an important renewable fuel for shipping. “Projects like this make Rotterdam Europe’s most important hydrogen hub.”
Consortia invest in Rotterdam
However, Air Products and Gunvor are not the first and not the only interested parties in ammonia 
want to bring to Rotterdam. In April, the Dutch gas network operator Gasunie, the storage company Vopak NV and HES International BV declared that they would also develop a corresponding terminal on the Maasvlakte by 2026; initially for blue ammonia. The site could then also be connected to Gasunie's hydrogen distribution network in the future. According to Reuters, Gasunie wants to invest four billion euros over a period of seven years to develop the Dutch hydrogen infrastructure.
Also in April, according to Reuters, the port operator and Guernsey-based energy products distributor Chariot Ltd said they would work together to set up supply chains for the import of green hydrogen and ammonia from Mauritania to Rotterdam.
And fertilizer manufacturer OCI NV made an investment decision in mid-June for the first phase of expanding its ammonia import terminal. The throughput will initially be increased from the current around 400.000 tons to 1,2 million tons. The total investment costs are estimated at around 20 million dollars (19 million euros), and completion is expected in 2023. In the second phase, capacity is expected to increase to more than three million tons per year.
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APMT terminal in the port of Rotterdam. © Port of Rotterdam / Danny Cornelissen
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Allard Castelein, Managing Director of the Rotterdam Port Authority. © Port of Rotterdam / Ernst Bode
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Plans for Gasunie's ammonia import terminal in Rotterdam. © Gasunie
