ADNOC to construct a blue ammonia facility in the UAE

Abu Dhabi National Oil Co. (ADNOC) plans to build a  blue ammonia production plant As the UAE's largest energy producer strives to become a pioneer in clean energy products, including hydrogen. Design contracts for this project have been awarded to top UK engineering and consulting group Wood for conducting the inititial Front-End Engineering and Design (pre-Feed) work.

ADNOC said in a statement on May 24 that the facility, which will be built in the industrial area of Ruwais in the emirate of Abu Dhabi, will have the capability to generate 1 million mt/year of blue ammonia; the project which has moved to the design phase is expected to begin production in 2025.

Blue ammonia is manufactured from nitrogen and blue hydrogen, which is derived from fossil fuels, with the CO2 created as a by-product of hydrogen production being caught and stored.

ADNOC will conduct a feasibility assessment on supplying blue hydrogen to the project from its Ruwais facility. The project's final investment decision is scheduled in 2022, with a start-up date of 2025.

Dr Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber, UAE Minister of Industry and Advanced Technology and ADNOC Managing Director and Group CEO, said: “This is a significant milestone in the development of our blue hydrogen and ammonia business, building on the UAE’s strong position as a producer of competitive, low carbon natural gas and our leadership role in carbon capture and underground storage."

ADNOC now produces 300,000 mt of hydrogen per year and expects to increase capacity to over 500,000 mt per year. ADNOC's Al Reyadah project can capture 800,000 metric tonnes of CO2 per year from local steel production in the UAE, and the corporation wants to increase its carbon capture and storage capacity to 5 million metric tonnes per year by 2030.

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