Indian firm ACME plans 3.5GW wind and solar to produce green ammonia

Indian renewables developer ACME plans to build a 3.5GW wind-and-solar complex to produce green ammonia in Oman.

It has signed an agreement with an Omani government authority for the $3.5 billion project in the Port of Duqm, next to the Arabian Sea.

The project would use output from 3GW of solar PV and 500MW of wind capacity to produce 2,400 tonnes of green ammonia per day.

Green ammonia can be made by using renewable electricity to power electrolysers producing green hydrogen and then adding nitrogen. It can be used for fertiliser and shipping fuels.

The developer aims to export this green ammonia to demand centres in Europe and Asia, it explained.

Its agreement with Oman’s Public Authority for Special Economic Zones and Free Zones enables it to begin pre-construction activities for the project, it said.

ACME has hired environmental consultants for the project and enlisted Black & Veatch as project engineers. 

The project is likely to be developed in phases, with a first phase likely to be commissioned by the end of 2022, according to Manoj Upadhyay, chairman of the ACME Group.

The developer plans to begin construction once it has completed commissioning of a green hydrogen and green ammonia plant in the state of Rajasthan, northern India, Upadhyay added.

It is unclear who will be funding the $3.5 billion project, how many phases it will be built in, and what capacity each phase will be.

Several large green ammonia projects are planned in Oman. 

Oman’s energy company OQ, green fuels developer InterContinental Energy and Kuwait government-backed investor EnerTech have joined forces to develop a project using 25GW of wind and solar capacity to produce millions of tonnes of green ammonia every year.

And German utility and Belgian contractor Deme aim to use up to 1.3GW of wind and solar capacity to feed electrolysers with a combined capacity of 500MW, also in the Port of Duqm.