August 26, 2022

Yara Clean Ammonia and Pilbara Ports Authority team up to assess ammonia as a shipping fuel

Graphic: an illustration of a molecule of ammonia. The blue ball is an atom of nitrogen and the three grey balls are hydrogen atoms. Source: Image by Colin Behrens, Pixabay (with labels by SAL).

By Yara

Yara Clean Ammonia and Pilbara Ports Authority (PPA) have signed a Collaboration Agreement to jointly facilitate the uptake of clean ammonia as a marine fuel in the Pilbara region in Western Australia.

This collaboration illustrates the confidence and commitment of both organisations in ammonia as a leading zero-carbon fuel for decarbonising the shipping industry.

The purpose of the agreement is to jointly assess the potential ammonia demand and required bunker infrastructure, leveraging off the existing world-scale ammonia production facility of Yara Pilbara, and its clean ammonia potential in the region.

The agreement will also ensure safe ammonia bunker operations within PPA ports through collaborative safety analysis and the creation of transparent ammonia bunkering guidelines.

Both organisations agree that forming a clear understanding of the required bunker infrastructure and safe ammonia bunker guidelines will accelerate the effective uptake of clean ammonia as a fuel, and will be a major step towards making shipping fossil-fuel free.

“The potential of ammonia as a fuel to effectively decarbonise the maritime industry is very clear; however some questions remain on how to maximise safe and efficient fuel delivery in a port environment. This Collaboration with PPA intends to address these questions and consequently will help fast-track ammonia as a zero-carbon fuel in the region.” says Murali Srinivasan, SVP and Commercial Head of Yara Clean Ammonia.

PPA CEO Roger Johnston said as the world’s largest bulk export port authority, PPA has a strong commitment to safe operations and sustainable shipping.

“PPA strives to be a frontrunner in establishing frameworks to ensure safe ammonia bunker operations. This collaboration with Yara Clean Ammonia creates great opportunities to work together to reduce carbon emissions,” Mr Johnston said.

The joint assessment is planned to take approximately one year.

About Yara Clean Ammonia (YCA)

Yara grows knowledge to responsibly feed the world and protect the planet. Yara Clean Ammonia is uniquely positioned to enable the hydrogen economy in a market expected to grow substantially over the next decades. We aim at significantly strengthening our leading global position as the world’s largest ammonia distributor, unlock-ing the green and blue value chains, and driving the development of clean ammonia globally.

Building on Yara’s leading experience within global ammonia production, logistics and trade, Yara Clean Ammonia works towards capturing growth opportunities in low-emission fuel for shipping and power, carbon-free food pro-duction and ammonia for industrial applications.

Yara Clean Ammonia operates the largest global ammonia network with 12 ships and has access to 18 ammonia terminals and multiple ammonia production and consumption sites across the world, through Yara. Revenues and EBITDA for the last 12 months were USD 3,638 million and USD 172 million respectively as per Q2 2022. Yara Clean Ammonia is headquartered in Oslo, Norway.

About Pilbara Ports Authority

PPA is the world’s largest bulk export port authority, encompassing the ports of Ashburton, Dampier, Port Hedland and Varanus Island. PPA operates as a Western Australia Government Trading Enterprise (GTE) and is governed by the Ports Authorities Act 1999 (WA). PPA handles more than 17,000 safe vessel movements a year, with an average of 35 vessels per day. In 2021-22, PPA achieved a record-breaking total annual throughput of 733.1 million tonnes, with the value of commodities passing through its ports in excess of $165 billion.

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