Yara International inaugurated its renewable hydrogen plant at Herøya, Norway. Yara is now producing renewable hydrogen and ammonia and has already delivered the first tons of fertilizers made from renewable ammonia produced at this plant.
“This is a major milestone for Yara and for the decarbonization of the food value chain, shipping fuel and other energy intensive industries,” said Svein Tore Holsether, President and CEO of Yara.
Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre inaugurated the 24 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 tons of CO2 emissions from the site.
“This is a ground-breaking project and a testament to our mission to responsibly feed the world and protect the planet. I want to thank our dedicated employees who have worked tirelessly to get this cutting-edge production up and running, Enova for supporting the project, our partners and our brave customers who are first movers towards a more sustainable future. We are very pleased to have delivered the first tonnes of low-carbon footprint fertilizers to Lantmännen, a partnership which serves as a concrete example of how collaboration across the entire food value chain is required to decarbonize. Together, we have made this important step towards decarbonizing hard to abate sectors,” informed Holsether.
As per the press release, the low-carbon footprint fertilizers produced and delivered will be part of a new portfolio called Yara Climate Choice. The solutions will benefit crops while at the same time contributing to decarbonizing the food value chain and reducing climate impact.
In addition to fertilizers produced with electrolysis of water and renewable energy, fertilizers based on low-carbon ammonia produced using carbon capture storage (CCS) will be a large part of Yara’s portfolio going forward.
“Renewable ammonia is an important part of the decarbonization 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,” commented Hans Olav Raen, CEO of Yara Clean Ammonia.
In 2023, Yara signed a binding CO2 transport and storage agreement with Northern Lights, the world’s first cross-border CCS agreement in operation. Yara aims to reduce its annual CO2-emissions by 800,000 tons from the ammonia production at Yara Sluiskil.
Yara is also evaluating one to two world-scale low-carbon ammonia production projects with CCS in the US. Hydrogen is used to produce ammonia, which in turn is used to produce fertilizers and can also be used as shipping fuel. Ammonia is also an efficient energy- and hydrogen carrier.
