(Sauda/Norway) – In the future, green ammonia will be produced as fuel for the maritime sector in the municipality of Sauda on the southwest coast of Norway. The owners of the production facility called “Iverson eFuels AS” are Hy2gen AG, Trafigura and Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners (CIP).
Last year, a preliminary study was completed together with the Norwegian consulting company Norconsult. According to the project owners, at the end of the so-called FEED phase (Front-End Engineering Design), which has now begun, there is “a complete plan for the construction of the plant by 2023”. The final investment decision will be made on this basis. Construction is scheduled to begin in the first quarter of 2024 and commissioning will take place at the beginning of 2027.
Large employer for the region
The Iverson Project has an initial electrolyzer capacity of 240 megawatts to produce 600 tons of green ammonia per day. In the future, production is to be “significantly increased”. When fully operational, the facility is expected to employ approximately 50 people and create an additional 100 indirect jobs. The project team has already started the recruitment process and will work with local authorities to attract qualified staff.
Decarbonizing shipping
“The green ammonia will provide the shipping industry with a zero-carbon marine fuel as an alternative to traditional fossil fuels,” say operators. The location offers “access to abundant green energy from hydropower, a good port for exports” and an attractive production location. “Above all, the positive attitude of local authorities and companies encouraged us to choose Sauda as the headquarters of Iverson eFuels AS in Norway,” explained Cyril Dufau-Sansot, CEO of the Hy2gen Group.
Rasmus Bach Nielsen, Global Head of Fuel Decarbonization at Trafigura, calls for policymakers “around the world to urgently neutralize the costs of using zero-carbon fuels through carbon pricing measures to stimulate demand and enable radical reductions in emissions.” .
Pipeline of 880 megawatts
Hy2gen AG, based in Wiesbaden, develops, finances, builds and operates plants worldwide for the production of green hydrogen and e-fuels based on hydrogen. The first plants will be built in France, Norway, Canada, Germany and the USA. The company, founded in 2016, says it has a current pipeline of projects with a capacity of 880 megawatts that are in planning or under construction, as well as a development pipeline of twelve gigawatts.
The Netherlands-based commodities trader Trafigura was founded in 1993 and has its administrative headquarters in Singapore. The company also owns and operates a number of industrial facilities. Among other things, it has a stake in the port and logistics provider Impala Terminal, as well as in Nala Renewables, an investment and development platform for electricity and renewable energies. Trafigura employs over 13.000 people in 48 countries.
Danish fund management company CIP has a particular focus on energy infrastructure, including offshore and onshore wind, photovoltaics, biomass and energy from waste, transmission and distribution, reserve capacity and storage, and other energy assets. According to its own information, CIP manages eight funds with a volume of around 16 billion euros, which come from around 100 international institutional investors from Europe, Asia, Australia and North America as well as multilateral organizations.
The Iverson eFuels project will be part of CIP's Energy Transition Fund, which focuses on Power-to-X and other renewable technologies. The fund is also “Catalina“, a project for the large-scale production of green hydrogen and ammonia in Spain.
The Iverson project is supported by Agenda Vest and the Ulla Førre Fund.
Photos
An environmentally friendly ammonia production plant is to be built in Sauda with Iversion eFuels AS © Hy2gen
