Agreement to Develop Rotterdam’s First Ammonia Storage and Terminal
Efforts are continuing to build the infrastructure required to support the emergence of ammonia as an alternative energy source for maritime and other industries. As the latest step in building the supply chain, Horisont Energi, which is planning blue ammonia production in the northern reaches of Norway, will work with liquid bulk storage company Koole Terminals on the development of a terminal and storage facility at the Port of Rotterdam.
The companies will explore the establishment of a strategic and collaborative relationship for the storage of ammonia produced and shipped from Norway to Rotterdam. The agreement will also cover technical and commercial conceptual models for storage of ammonia products, services solutions, and technologies for further distribution, to meet forecast demand in Northwest Europe.
“As Horisont Energi and our partners work towards developing Europe’s first world-scale clean ammonia project, it is essential to establish relationships with key storage, handling and transport partners in the region, to ensure our clean ammonia can reach all potential clients,” said Bjørgulf Haukelidsæter Eidesen, CEO of Horisont Energi.
Horisont Energi recently announced a cooperation agreement with Equinor and Vår Energi, the two largest offshore oil and gas producers in the Barents Sea region, on the joint development of the Barents Blue project, Europe’s first large-scale production facility for blue ammonia. The Barents Blue project is based on using natural gas, clean water, and renewable energy to produce clean ammonia, which is a key industrial gas used globally in the fertilizer and chemical sector and is a very efficient hydrogen carrier, making it one of the most promising fuels for decarbonization of parts of the maritime sector. During the production process at the Barents Blue ammonia plant, more than 99 percent of the CO2 will be captured and permanently stored in the offshore Polaris reservoir below the seabed offshore Finnmark.
“We are eager to work with Horisont Energi to materialize their European distribution hub for blue ammonia. We consider ammonia as one of the important future liquid energy carriers, and as such this project fits very well with Koole’s sustainable energy strategy,” said John Kraakman, CEO of Koole Terminals.
Koole Terminals will play an important role in facilitating and supporting the distribution of ammonia from the Barents Blue production plant in Hammerfest, northern Norway. The company currently has 11 terminals in Europe with a total storage capacity of over 4.1 million cubic meters. Koole has a distribution network including ships, trucks, rail, and pipelines.