ADNOC, Fertiglobe partner to sell blue ammonia to Japan’s Idemitsu

The Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC), in partnership with Fertiglobe, has agreed to the sale of blue ammonia to Idemitsu in Japan, for using it in its refining and petrochemicals operations.

The sale builds upon recently announced joint efforts to enhance industrial cooperation between the UAE and Japan and support the development of new UAE-Japan blue ammonia supply chains and follows the first sale of UAE blue ammonia cargos to Itochu, according to an ADNOC announcement in a press release on Tuesday.

Fertiglobe, a 58:42 partnership between OCI and ADNOC, will produce blue ammonia at its Fertil plant in the Ruwais Industrial Complex in Abu Dhabi for delivery to ADNOC’s customers in Japan.

The shipment, which was sold at an attractive premium to grey ammonia, underscores the favourable economics for blue ammonia as an emerging source of low-carbon energy. It represents a further production milestone of a planned scale-up of blue ammonia production capabilities in Abu Dhabi, which is expected to include a low-cost debottlenecking programme at Fertil.

It was announced in June that Fertiglobe will join ADNOC and ADQ as a partner in a new world-scale 1 million metric tonness per annum blue ammonia project at TA’ZIZ in Ruwais, subject to regulatory approvals.

Ammonia can be used as a low-carbon fuel across a wide range of industrial applications, including transportation, power generation, refining and industries including steel, wastewater treatment, cement and fertiliser production.

For Japan, in particular, hydrogen and its carrier fuels, such as blue ammonia, are expected to play an important role in the country’s ongoing industrial decarbonisation efforts. Idemitsu will use the cargo to pilot the use of blue ammonia to decarbonise its refinery operations.

WAM