Saudi Arabia ships first accredited low-carbon ammonia shipment to Japan

LONDON (ICIS)–Saudi Arabian company Aramco confirmed on 20 April that the company had delivered its first accredited low-carbon ammonia shipment to Japan.

The ammonia was produced by SABIC Agri-Nutrients with the feedstock supplied by Aramco, and was sold by Aramco Trading Company to Fuji Oil Company.

Mitsui O.S.K. Lines was responsible for the shipment, which was delivered to the Sodegaura refinery to be used in co-fired power generation.

The ammonia has been labelled as low carbon due to the CO2 having been captured from the associated manufacturing process and then utilised in downstream applications, Aramco said in the press release.

Japan is seeking to have a hydrogen economy of 3 million tonnes/year by 2030 and 20 million tonnes/year by 2050, according to the country’s hydrogen strategy.

The country will aim to produce domestic hydrogen from renewable sources, but will be reliant on imports from other countries.

Saudi Arabia has ambitions of becoming a significant exporter of hydrogen and hydrogen carriers such as ammonia, and is targeting production targets of 2.9 million tonnes/year by 2030 and 4 million tonnes/year by 2035.

Exports of low carbon and renewable ammonia are likely to rise in volume in the coming years, as countries begin to import hydrogen and hydrogen carriers from other global regions to meet decarbonisation targets.

The European Union has a target of importing 10 million tonnes/year of hydrogen by 2030, mainly into northwest Europe (Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany).

Moreover, G7 countries (Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the UK, the US, the EU) said in a press release over the weekend that they will enhance efforts to develop a rule-based, transparent global market and supply chain for low carbon and renewable hydrogen and its derivatives.