Oman’s state-owned energy company OQ is to look into producing green ammonia and green methanol under a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with A.P. Moller-Maersk, Japan’s Sumitomo and Omani logistics provider Asyad.
The $463 million (€434 million) plant project has a designed capacity of 1,000 metric tonnes per day (MTPD) of ammonia and is fully integrated with existing 1 million metric tons per year capacity methanol plant already located at the site.
Liquid ammonia from the plant is shipped via Salalah Port, which has an abundance of solar and wind resources. The new ammonia plant has also been designed to retain the hydrogen-rich purge gas generated by the methanol plant as feedstock for the ammonia plant.
Maersk is developing a carbon-free green methanol-powered fleet of containerships, now standing at 19 ships with deliveries planned primarily in 2024 and 2025, and has been busy lining up partnerships for the green methanol fuel supply to power the fleet.
The company recently announced its eighth such partnership with US-based project developer Carbon Sink, which is developing its first facility co-located at the Red River Energy bioethanol plant in Rosholt, South Dakota.
OQ announced in September that it has started production of ammonia at its new plant Dhofar Governorate.
“Securing green fuels at scale in this decade is critical in our fleet decarbonisation efforts,” said Berit Hinnemann, Head of Green Fuels Sourcing at Maersk, upon the partnership announcement with Carbon Sink.
Oman looks to develop green ammonia and methanol facilities
