The $5b green hydrogen project

A $5bn green hydrogen-based ammonia facility powered by renewable energy will be constructed in Saudi Arabia.

Air Products announced that they had signed an agreement with ACWA Power and NEOM for the plant, which will be equally owned by the three partners. The project will supply 650 tonnes per day of green hydrogen, via electrolysis using thyssenkrupp technology.

The facility will be sited in NEOM, a planned cross-border city located in the North West corner of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia that serves as a new model for sustainable living. The project is scheduled to be onstream in 2025 and will produce green ammonia for export to global markets.

The joint venture is the first partnership for NEOM with international and national partners in the renewable energy field.

Air Products said it will be the exclusive offtaker of the green ammonia and intends to transport it around the world to be dissociated to produce green hydrogen for the transportation market.

“We are honoured and proud to partner with ACWA Power and NEOM and use proven technologies to make the world’s dream of 100 per cent green energy a reality,” said Chairman, President and CEO of Air Products Seifi Ghasemi.

“Harnessing the unique profile of NEOM’s sun and wind to convert water to hydrogen, this project will yield a totally clean source of energy on a massive scale and will save the world over three million tonnes of CO₂ emissions annually and eliminate smog-forming emissions and other pollutants from the equivalent of over 700,000 cars.”

The plant will integrate over four gigawatts of renewable power from solar, wind and storage, and produce 1.2 million tonnes per year of green ammonia using Haldor Topsoe technology, says Air Products.

“With our global experience, we are confident that our collaboration with an industry-leading company like Air Products will create significant opportunities in the production of green hydrogen, and further us in our goal to help countries meet their clean energy targets and unlock significant socio-economic benefits,” says Mohammad A. Abunayyan, ACWA Power Chairman.

“Based in NEOM’s Industrial Cluster, and enabled by its unique mandate, this investment will integrate and localise cutting-edge technologies that will harness solar and wind power to produce sustainable and globally accessible green energy.”