Norway’s Yara International ASA has signaled it may join Enbridge Inc. to develop a blue ammonia project on the Texas coast near Corpus Christi.
Adjacent to the Enbridge Ingleside Energy Center (EIEC), the Calgary-based midstream giant is designing a low-carbon ammonia facility and export project. Blue ammonia is manufactured from nitrogen and hydrogen derived from natural gas feedstock.
Enbridge initially was partnering with Humble Midstream LLC, an EnCap Flatrock Midstream portfolio company. However, Humble is exiting the project, with Yara Clean Ammonia signing a letter of intent to acquire a half-stake. No financial details were disclosed.
“The addition of Yara to the project greatly enhances the long-term prospects for the venture,” sponsors noted.
“EIEC is well-positioned to become the most sustainable export terminal in North America through low-carbon fuel production, carbon capture and solar self-power,” said Enbridge’s Colin Gruending, executive vice president of Liquids Pipelines.
Sequestering CO2
Once operational, the production facility as designed would have 1.2-1.4 million tons/year of capacity. Nearly all (95%) of the carbon dioxide (CO2) generated from the production process would be “captured and transported to nearby permanent geologic storage.”
If approved following the front-end engineering design phase, total project investment is estimated at $2.6-2.9 billion, with production start-up in four to five years.
Enbridge and Yara plan to use their “complementary strengths to develop and execute the project.” Yara is the world’s largest ammonia distributor and considered an expert in ammonia development, production and operations. Enbridge, in turn, would provide the large-scale infrastructure development muscle.
EIEC already has deepwater docks and an export platform, considered critical to advancing the project to commercial operations. Enbridge’s Texas Eastern Transmission Pipeline, aka Tetco, has been tapped to transport feed gas that would be used for the production process. In addition, Enbridge and Occidental Petroleum Corp.’s Oxy Low Carbon Ventures are advancing a CO2 sequestration hub near Corpus, which could be the destination for the captured CO2.
Yaro Offtaking Supply
Yara has signaled that it would “contract full offtake from the facility, which further enhances the strategic value and commercial viability of the project.”
Yara is “working systematically to develop project opportunities in the U.S.,” Yara Clean Ammonia President Magnus Krogh Ankarstrand said. The project “will significantly contribute to our strategy of decarbonizing agriculture, as well as serving new clean ammonia segments such as shipping fuel, power production and ammonia as a hydrogen carrier.”
Yara Clean Ammonia operates a global network with 15 ships and access to 18 ammonia terminals. It also has “multiple” ammonia production and consumption sites across the world through Yara International.
The project still requires regulatory approvals before the partners consider sanctioning the facility.
