Abu Dhabi’s ADNOC sends first low-carbon ammonia shipment to Germany

Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) has dispatched its first shipment of low-carbon ammonia to Hamburg, Germany.

This is the first ever cargo of low-carbon ammonia to be shipped to Germany, and will  be delivered to Hamburg-headquartered Aurubis, a global provider of non-ferrous metals and one of the largest copper recyclers worldwide. On arrival in Germany, Hamburger Hafen und Logistik (HHLA) will handle the shipment.

Produced by Fertiglobe, a partnership between ADNOC and OCI, the demonstration cargo is the first of several test cargoes sold to customers in Germany as ADNOC expands its partnership across the hydrogen value chain. Aurubis plans to utilise the low-carbon ammonia as a feedstock in its wire rod plant, testing its application as a lower-carbon energy source for industial ulilisation, it said in a statement.

Low-carbon ammonia is a clean fuel with exciting potential. And the first of several test cargoes produced by Fertiglobe has left the UAE for Germany, building on similar exports to customers in Asia. pic.twitter.com/wImaZpcGeW

— ADNOC Group (@ADNOCGroup) September 1, 2022

Dr. Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber, UAE Minister of Industry and Advanced Technology and ADNOC managing director and group CEO, said: “This demonstration cargo of low-carbon ammonia builds upon the longstanding bilateral relationship between the UAE and Germany and our growing partnership in clean energy.

“Our collaboration with customers in Germany also underlines ADNOC’s ambitious growth plans for the production of clean hydrogen, and its carrier fuels such as ammonia, which will play a critical role in decarbonising hard-to-abate industrial sectors. We are committed to accelerating and deepening private and public sector collaboration in clean hydrogen projects that will reduce carbon emissions and the carbon intensity of the energy that supports our everyday lives.”

Roland Harings, CEO of Aurubis, said: “As the most efficient and sustainable smelter network in the world, Aurubis provides metals that are key for megatrends such as renewable energies, electric mobility and digitalization and hence for decarbonization. To guarantee stable processes at our sites, we are expanding our portfolio of reliable energy sources and thus investing in the decarbonization of our production at the same time. This first trial shipment of low-carbon ammonia from ADNOC represents an important milestone in our long-term vision for hydrogen solutions that will help meet our decarbonisation goals.”

“I very much welcome the fact that our international and national partners in business and the port are leading the way with these real-world trials for decarbonising industry. We need these real-world findings and commitment to support the ramp-up of a Green Hydrogen Economy. Hamburg as an industrial location and as a European distribution port is a blueprint for this transformation and is therefore also in the German focus,” added HE Michael Westhagemann, Hamburg Senator for Economy and Innovation.

The cargo follows a number of low-carbon ammonia sales made to customers in Asia. Last year, ADNOC said that it would sent its first cargo of blue ammonia to Japan’s Itochu Corp. for use in fertilizer production.

Read: UAE’s ADNOC sells trial cargo of blue ammonia to Japan firm

ADNOC plans to grow its hydrogen production to supply up to 25 per cent of imported hydrogen in key global markets. Germany’s national hydrogen strategy expects an import demand for clean hydrogen of approximately 3 million tons per annum (mtpa) by 2030 and up to 15 mtpa by 2050.