Yara opens new ammonia import terminal in Germany
Hydrogen

Yara opens new ammonia import terminal in Germany

Yara now has the infrastructure to enable imports of up to three million tonnes of low-emission ammonia to Europe annually

  • By ICN Bureau | October 03, 2024

Yara International officially opened its new ammonia import terminal in Brunsbüttel, Germany. Brunsbüttel is located on the North Sea and Kiel Canal, making it an ideal hub for enabling the hydrogen economy in Germany. With the new terminal, Yara has the infrastructure to enable imports of up to three million tonnes of low-emission ammonia to Europe annually.

Yara, the world's leading crop nutrition company, inaugurates its new ammonia import terminal in Brunsbüttel in the presence of representatives from German and Norwegian authorities. The terminal is part of Yara's strategy to strengthen its core nitrogen business while generating value-accretive growth in a low-carbon future.

“As the world’s largest shipper and distributer of ammonia, Yara Clean Ammonia is in a pole position to secure low-emission ammonia supply to Germany, at competitive prices. With its leading global ammonia position, Yara can help kick-start the German hydrogen economy, laying the ground for a net zero future,” says Hans Olav Raen, CEO, Yara Clean Ammonia. Up to 3 million tonnes of low-CO2 ammonia can be imported annually via the terminal in Brunsbüttel. This would correspond to 530,000 tonnes of hydrogen or around 5% of the total European hydrogen target for 2030.

With its significant import capacity, Yara’s new terminal in Brunsbüttel will play an important role in enabling the German hydrogen strategy and contribute to the country’s energy transition. Uniquely located on the North Sea and the Kiel Canal, Brunsbüttel is ideally placed to become a central hub, not only for Germany, but also for Europe's hydrogen economy.

“For 50 years, we have been manufacturing products of fundamental importance to Germany and Europe here at the Brunsbüttel site. inauguration represents a new milestone and an important step towards a low-carbon future” states Sven Kohnke, Plant Manager Yara Brunsbüttel.

The ammonia can be delivered directly from the terminal to the point of use, where it could be cracked to low-emission hydrogen. The competitiveness of German industry, not least steel and chemicals, can only be maintained through decarbonization. This can be achieved through cracking low-emission ammonia to hydrogen, for which significant quantities of ammonia will be needed.

Low-emission ammonia is produced by electrolysis using renewable electricity or using carbon capture and storage (CCS).

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