Hyderabad-based green molecule producer AM Green Ammonia has taken a final investment decision (FID) for its first million tonne green ammonia project in Kakinada, Andhra Pradesh. The FID for this project kickstarts the company’s targeted production capacity of 5 million tonnes per annum (MTPA) of green ammonia by 2030, which is equivalent to approximately 1 MTPA of green hydrogen.
The total project expenditure for the plant includes a plant for the production of green hydrogen and its subsequent conversion into green ammonia as well as all associated plant and infrastructure equipment.
This project will be located at an existing urea plant in Kakinada, which the company acquired earlier this year and is part of the above capital expenditure. The plan is to convert this plant into a green ammonia production plant, which will start production in the second half of 2026.
The Kakinada plant has been pre-certified by CertifHy and meets the EU RFNBO requirements for green ammonia, including renewable additionality and hourly adjustment. The majority of the production from this plant is exported to European markets.
The proposed investment for the project is about Rs 12,500 crore, according to a source familiar with the details. Petronas-Gentari’s Malaysian clean energy unit AM Green, founded last October by Hyderabad-based renewable energy company Greenko and Singapore-based GIC Holdings Pte Ltd, announced a partnership with AM Green Ammonia BV (“Company”) to produce 5 million tonnes per annum (MTPA) of green ammonia using renewable energy by 2030 on a 24×7 basis.
The company has already signed offtake agreements for this project with major players such as Uniper, Yara, Keppel and others for intended end use in a range of green hydrogen applications.
The company has secured the required 1,300 MW of CO2-free electricity production around the clock, made possible by a hybrid solar and wind capacity of 4,500 MW combined with 950 MW of PSP capacity.
A 25-year fixed-price power purchase agreement (PPA) with NTPC covering half of the above capacity is already in place. The remaining capacity is expected to be supplied by Gentari.
The company has unique access to gigawatt-scale pumped storage projects and has a manufacturing partnership with John Cockerill for 2 GW-scale electrolyzers. These reliable, state-of-the-art alkaline pressure electrolyzers will be used on this project.
In addition to the Kakinada project, the company is also focusing on producing green ammonia at multiple sites in India to achieve its planned capacity of 5 MTPA of green ammonia by 2030, which is expected to accelerate efforts to achieve net zero targets in India as well as in OECD markets. This equates to approximately 1 MTPA of green hydrogen, one-fifth of India’s green hydrogen production target under the country’s National Green Hydrogen Mission and 10 percent of Europe’s green hydrogen import target by 2030.
“The FID status achieved by our Kakinada power plant underscores our commitment to providing carbon-free energy solutions globally while meeting the highest standards such as EU RFNBO norms. This is a significant milestone for AM Green as it strengthens our position as a leading energy transition solutions platform and helps decarbonize industries such as refining, shipping, fertilizers, power generation, chemicals and others through low-cost green molecules and their derivatives,” said Anil Chalamalasetty, Founder of Greenko Group and AM Green.
Published August 28, 2024, 2:35 p.m. IS
