The US industrial gases manufacturer Air Products & Chemicals, the Saudi utility ACWA Power and the Neom model region have signed a contract. Accordingly, they want to build a plant powered by renewable energy to produce ammonia as a basis for green hydrogen. The location is the Neom industrial area in the far northwest of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and commissioning is scheduled for 2025.
According to the information, the investment volume for the production facilities amounts to around five billion dollars (4,4 billion euros). Air Products is investing another two billion dollars (1,7 billion euros) in the distribution and supply chain that is solely the responsibility of the company, such as hydrogen storage and filling stations with a focus on buses and trucks.
Solar and wind energy as well as electricity storage with a cumulative installed capacity of four gigawatts are expected to produce 650 tons of hydrogen per day using electrolysis in the future. The technologies come from Thyssenkrupp. A few days before the announcement of the Neom project, Air Products and Thyssenkrupp Uhde Chlorine Engineers signed what was described as a “strategic cooperation agreement for world-scale electrolysis plants for the production of green hydrogen”. The two companies would therefore work exclusively in key regions and “leverage their complementary strengths in technology, engineering and project delivery” to develop projects to supply green hydrogen. The Neom project is likely to be followed by others.
According to Denis Krude, CEO of Thyssenkrupp Uhde Chlorine Engineers, the company has “developed a highly efficient technology for alkaline water electrolysis” and has implemented more than 600 projects and electrochemical plants worldwide with a total output of over ten gigawatts.
Air Products is also contributing its nitrogen production technology to the overall project; Haldor Topsoe has a plant for producing 1,2 million tons of green ammonia from hydrogen every year, which Air Products will purchase exclusively and completely in order to turn it into green hydrogen convert. According to Seifi Ghasemi, Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer of Air Products, the project will save three million tons of CO2 worldwide every year.
The consortium
Neom is based on a plan (“Vision 2030”) by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. Accordingly, an innovative and creative model region is to be created on the Red Sea as a “living laboratory” where “more than a million inhabitants from all over the world live and work” (Claim: “Accelerator of human progress”). Cities, ports, industrial and commercial areas, research centers, sports and entertainment as well as tourism are planned. “For Neom, the joint venture is the first partnership with leading international and national companies in the field of renewable energy” and the hydrogen project “is the first step towards creating a new industry,” says Nadhmi Al Nasr, CEO of Neom. He describes the project as a “beacon for a sustainable lifestyle” that could “serve as a solution to the world’s many environmental problems.”
According to its own information, Air Products is currently the world's largest supplier of hydrogen. With a focus on energy, environmental technology and emerging markets, the company supplies industrial gases to customers in the refinery, chemical, metal and electrical industries, manufacturing and food and beverage industries. Air Products also produces process technology and equipment for natural gas liquefaction. Global group sales were $2019 billion in 8,9.
ACWA Power is a developer, investor and operator of power plants and seawater desalination plants. Founded in 2004, the company is based in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. ACWA Power's portfolio includes 59 plants with an investment value of $48,8 billion and an installed capacity of 34 gigawatts.
Deep link:
https://www.presseportal.de/pm/69457/4646497?utm_source=digest&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=push
http://investors.airproducts.com/static-files/b0595961-b2ac-45ff-89c5-7d9d8837a363
https://newsroom.neom.com/neom-will-be-the-home-to-worlds-largest-renewable-hydrogen-project
http://www.airproducts.com/Company/news-center/2020/07/0705-air-products-and-thyssenkrupp-agreement-for-electrolysis-plants-to-generate-green-hydrogen.aspx
Photos:
The world's largest production facility for green hydrogen is to be built in the Neom model region on the Red Sea in Saudi Arabia / © Neom
