Fertiglobe partners with AD Ports for green ammonia storage: OCI and Adnoc joint venture Fertiglobe has signed an MoU with trade and logistics firm AD Ports Group to explore partnerships in storing and shipping urea and ammonia at ports in Egypt and the UAE, according to a statement.

More details: The MoU marks a first step towards the company’s plans to expand its shipping and storing of green ammonia and optimize its logistics’ cost structure with a target to save USD 50 mn by the end of 2024 by leveraging AD Ports Group’s advanced expertise in cargo handling and storage infrastructure, the statement notes.

What they said: “We will identify compelling opportunities across our logistics and supply chain management requirements, enabling us to bolster our ability to store and ship urea and ammonia from Egypt and further optimize our logistics’ cost structure … to expand our partnership beyond Egypt and the UAE, as well as to the shipping and storage of green ammonia, in line with our commitment to deliver more sustainable products to the world,” Fertiglobe CEO Ahmed El Hoshy said in the statement.

Fertiglobe is well established in the region: The company began in November commissioning of their 100 MW green hydrogen plant in Egypt’s Ain Sokhna — funded by the European Bank of Reconstruction and Development — which will generate feedstock for green ammonia production once operational in 2024. Engie signed an agreement with Fertiglobe in 2022 to study co-developing a “globally cost-competitive” 200 MW green hydrogen facility in the UAE to back the production of green ammonia, which El Hoshy suggested would be a 100-200 MW green hydrogen project in Abu Dhabi. Fertiglobe said it is expected to begin the front end engineering design (FEED) process for its green hydrogen to ammonia projects in the UAE and Egypt during the second half of 2023.

With eyes on Europe and bunkering: “Fertiglobe, is investing in green ammonia, including in partnership with Adnoc in Abu Dhabi and with Masdar. These are all fuels that could be used not only to export the final product to Europe or Asia, but can also be provided at ports that can become major bunkering hubs and suppliers of low carbon fuels in the future. Methanol has the advantage today because there are already methanol engines,” El Hoshy told Enterprise Climate in an interview earlier this month.

Blue ammonia is also on deck: In January, Japan-based Mitsui & Co signed a shareholder agreement with Fertiglobe, GS Energy, and Adnoc-ADQ joint venture Ta’ziz to construct a facility to produce some 1 mn tons of blue ammonia per year. The company is still awaiting a final investment decision on the project, its most recent earnings release said.