Yara launches renewable hydrogen plant

Yara International has announced it is officially opening its renewable hydrogen plant in Herøya, Norway.

Yara is now producing renewable hydrogen and ammonia and has already delivered the first tonnes of fertilisers made from renewable ammonia produced at this plant.

The Norwegian Prime Minister, Jonas Gahr Støre, inaugurated the 24-megawatt (MW) renewable hydrogen plant at Herøya Industrial Park, the largest of its kind currently in operation in Europe.

The hydrogen is produced with electrolysis of water and renewable energy, replacing natural gas as feedstock and annually cutting 41,000 tonnes of CO2 emissions from the site.

Hydrogen is used to produce ammonia, which in turn is used to produce fertilisers and can also be used as shipping fuel. Ammonia is also an efficient energy and hydrogen carrier.

The low-carbon footprint fertilisers produced and delivered will be part of a new portfolio called Yara Climate Choice. These solutions will benefit crops while at the same time contributing to decarbonising the food value chain and reducing climate impact.

In addition to fertilisers produced with electrolysis of water and renewable energy, fertilisers based on low-carbon ammonia produced using carbon capture storage (CCS) will be a large part of Yara’s portfolio going forward.

Hans Olav Raen, CEO of Yara Clean Ammonia, said: “Renewable ammonia is an important part of the decarbonisation puzzle, however developing it at scale takes time. As the world is rapidly approaching 2030, we are also working to produce low-carbon ammonia with CCS to enable the hydrogen economy and develop the emerging markets for low-emission ammonia.”

In March 2024, the Canadian Port of Argentia and the Hamburg Port Authority (HPA) signed a Letter of Intent (LOI) to collaborate on the export and import of green hydrogen from Canada to Germany.

More recently, PACECO Corp. started commercial operations for the world’s first hydrogen fuel cell-powered Rubber-Tyred Gantry (RTG) crane at the Port of Los Angeles.