Yara can reduce 800,000 tonnes of CO emissions in Porsgrunn – E24

It appears in a message from Yara, in connection with the company’s sustainability seminar on Monday.

The Herøya plant produces around 500,000 tonnes of ammonia per year and uses large amounts of natural gas in production, which produces emissions.

By electrifying this plant, Yara will be able to reduce CO 2 emissions by 800,000 tons per year starting in 2026.

Total CO emissions in Norway last year were 50.3 million tonnes, according to Statistics Norway.

Thus, Yara’s potential cut in Porsgrunn corresponds to about 1.5 percent of Norway’s total emissions last year.

But such a project is a huge boost, and Yara emphasizes that the company will need public support and partners to deliver on this promise.

“With the necessary support and framework, the project will be operational in 2026 and, by eliminating one of Norway’s largest emission points, it will make a significant contribution to Norway meeting its obligations under the Paris Agreement,” he writes. Yara.

Can provide business opportunities

Yara also points to the business opportunities of being able to offer green ammonia as a fuel at a time when emissions are falling sharply.

“Through long experience and a leadership position in ammonia production, logistics and trade, Yara sees new growth opportunities in shipping and agriculture, in a market that is expected to grow by 60 percent during the next two decades, “the company writes.

While liquid hydrogen needs to cool to minus 253 degrees, ammonia only needs minus 33 degrees. Ammonia also has a higher energy density than liquid hydrogen, making it efficient in transportation and storage, Yara notes.

One liter of ammonia provides about 3.75 kilowatt hours of energy, while one liter of liquid hydrogen provides two kilowatt hours, according to the company.

Ammonia is the most promising hydrogen carrier and an emission-free fuel for shipping. Yara is a world leader in the production, logistics and trade of ammonia. A large-scale project for green ammonia is possible in Norway, electrifying our ammonia factory in Herøya, says Svein Tore Holsether, CEO of Yara.

The reduction of emissions is a requirement established by more and more companies. In its presentation material on Monday, Yara notes that Unilever will have zero net emissions in 2039 and Walmart in 2040, while Nestlé, Danone and Pepsi so far plan zero emissions in 2050.

Yara recently announced that the company will develop a 100 megawatt electrolysis plant in the Dutch Sluiskil. Here, electricity from the Ørsted Borssele 1 and 2 offshore wind farms will be used to produce green hydrogen which is used in the production of ammonia at Yara’s factory in Sluiskil.

The company will also use solar-powered hydrogen at an ammonia factory in Pilbara, Australia.

I’ve already tried the technology

Ammonia (NH₃) is produced using hydrogen, nitrogen, and water vapor. The hydrogen used in the process is currently extracted from natural gas. This is done through reforms, a process that produces large emissions of CO.

By using electrolysers that can instead use Norwegian hydropower to separate hydrogen from water, these emissions will be eliminated.

Last year, Yara and electrolyzer manufacturer Nel signed a contract for a pilot project for the technology. The goal is to have it ready by early 2023. The project has received support from the Research Council, Innovation Norway and Enova, through the Pilot-E support program.

– We have now formally signed the contract with Nel for this collaboration, where the goal is to use electrolyzers and eliminate natural gas that is the source of CO emissions in ammonia production in Porsgrunn, production manager Tove Andersen at Yara told E24 in August of last year. .

Nel will supply a five megawatt electrolyzer that will be tested at the Porsgrunn ammonia plant. Yara now has a tender for an additional 20 megawatts of electrolysis for the Porsgrunn plant.

Yara and Nel emphasized last year that there is still a need to reduce the cost of this technology.

– Today, producing ammonia with electrolysis using Norwegian electricity costs two to three times as much, and the goal is to reduce costs, Tove Andersen said last year.

Yara emitted about 32 million tons of CO in 2005, but last year it was reduced to 19 million tons. Most of it comes from ammonia production.

The company now sets a new target of reducing its direct emissions by 30 percent to 12 million tons by 2030. The company will be climate neutral by 2050.

Yara and Ørsted focus on green hydrogen in the Netherlands

Receive praise from Zero

Technology manager Marius Gjerset of environmental organization Zero believes it will be a big and important climate measure if Yara implements the project.

He hopes the state will be willing to deliver what is needed for grants.

– Zero works to achieve such important technological changes in the zero emissions industry. That is why we are very happy with Yara’s plans, he says in a comment.

– This is an important climate advance in a high-emissions industry. The government must now ensure that Enova supports the project so that it can be carried out, he adds.

Bet on other services

Yara also said Monday that the company is focusing on increasing revenue from new online services, digital carbon market services, and performance-based models.

This will increase gross operating profit (EBITDA) by $ 300-600 million a year beginning in 2025, in addition to existing initiatives, Yara writes in the report.

– Yara is in a unique position to contribute to the decarbonization of the food chain, says Terje Knutsen, Yara’s Executive Vice President of Agricultural Solutions.

– We can help make agriculture more sustainable, while building new business areas for both the farmer and Yara. For example, we can directly affect 70 percent of emissions from corn production with optimal plant nutrition and solutions for a healthy and nutritious topsoil, he says.

Yara is still concerned about the discipline of capital. The objective is a medium-term return (“return on invested capital”) of 10%. Yara will invest $ 2.2 billion in 2021 and 2022, and $ 1.2 billion a year from 2022 onwards.