Europe's largest green hydrogen plant inaugurated by fertiliser giant Yara

Norwegian company Yara has opened a large green hydrogen and ammonia plant in Porsgrunn, making it the biggest one in Europe with a 24MW capacity. Before this, the largest plants in Europe were 20MW facilities in Sweden, Spain, and Finland.

Yara has already produced and delivered its first batches of low-carbon fertilizer using ammonia from this new plant to Swedish customers. Last year, Yara also made an agreement to supply green fertilizer to German companies and plans to produce fertilizer for oats in Norway.

The new Porsgrunn plant, with a 24MW PEM electrolyser from ITM Power, uses hydroelectric power to produce ten tonnes of hydrogen daily. This hydrogen will be used to make up to 20,500 tonnes of green ammonia per year, which can then be turned into 60,000-80,000 tonnes of fertilizer.

Yara highlights that carbon capture and storage (CCS) will be the main way they reduce emissions. CEO Hans Olav Raen said that while renewable ammonia is crucial for reducing carbon, it takes time to develop on a large scale. Yara is also working on low-carbon ammonia using CCS to support the hydrogen economy and new markets for low-emission ammonia.

Earlier this year, Yara started building CCS infrastructure at its Sluiskil facility, aiming to capture and store 800,000 tonnes of CO2 yearly starting in 2025. They also have plans for two large blue ammonia projects in the US, taking advantage of lower gas prices. Additionally, Yara plans to import green ammonia from Oman, where renewable energy is cheaper.