Page 144 - CW E-Magazine (24-6-2025)

News from Abroad News from Abroad

PROJECT UPDATE PROJECT UPDATE

Neom green hydrogen and ammonia plant 80% Inpex begins commissioning Japan’s fi rst blue

complete: Air Products hydrogen and ammonia project

US-based industrial gases major The company is now looking to sell Japanese oil company, Inpex, has
Air Products has said the construction green ammonia from the site to fi ll any started commissioning work for the
of the Neom project in Saudi Arabia is revenue gaps, given ongoing challenges country’s first blue hydrogen and
80% complete. in the green hydrogen market. As a ammonia pilot, based in Niigata
result of the shift, it will delay down- prefecture.
The fi rm, which is building the stream investments in Europe – includ-
2.2-GW Neom green hydrogen and ing ammonia import terminals – until The project is the fi rst of its kind in
ammonia project on behalf of its “specifi c regulatory frameworks” are Japan to implement an integrated pro-
co-developers ACWA Power and the fi rst ammonia expected to be pro- clear for each country, and it has “fi rm cess from the production to the utilisa-
Saudi state-owned Neom Green duced in 2027. The project is touted customer commitments.” tion of hydrogen and ammonia, which
Hydrogen Company, revealed in a as the world’s ‘largest’ green hydro- are clean energy sources that do not
video on its website that construction gen-based ammonia production facility Mantle Ridge – the activist invest- emit CO during usage. The natural
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is now 80% fi nished across all Neom’s run on renewable energy. It is expected ment fi rm which led the push against gas used as a raw material in this pro-
constituent parts. These include 2.2-GW to produce up to 600 tonnes per day of Air Products and its prior hydrogen cess is domestically sourced from the
of electrolysers, an air separator unit, carbon-free hydrogen in the form of strategy – had heavily criticised the Inpex-operated Minami-Nagaoka Gas
storage tanks for green ammonia, green ammonia as a cost-effective solu- Neom development. Field in Niigata Prefecture. ammonia and supplied to local consu- for blue ammonia production.” Addi-
a dedicated jetty for the export of tion for transportation and industrial mers in Niigata Prefecture. tionally, the assessment and implemen-
green hydrogen-derived ammonia, a sectors globally. Aside from an estimated $2.8-bn The project is expected to produce tation of subsurface CO storage are
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dedicated transmission grid, as well capital spend on the plant, Air Products around 700-tpa of blue hydrogen from The production of hydrogen and being conducted as part of a collabora-
as 2.2-GW of solar generation capa- The update follows a strategic also assumed full EPC liability for the the autumn of this year, with CO cap- ammonia as well as CO recovery for tive study with the Japan Organization
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city and 1.6-GW of wind power gene- change of direction in relation to Neom, development, as well as all the offtake tured and stored in depleted reservoirs commissioning are being conducted for Metals and Energy Security
ration capacity. The solar and wind which was set out in a recent earnings risk. That is now not the plan, though in the nearby Higashi-Kashiwazaki under a subsidy programme adopted (JOGMEC).
power generation sites are scheduled call in which Air Products recorded a alternative arrangements are not yet gas fi eld. The hydrogen produced will by the New Energy and Industrial
for completion by mid-2026, with $1.7-bn Q2 loss. confi rmed. be used to generate electricity that will Technology Development Organization Inpex has set a goal to advance
be supplied to local consumers in Nii- (NEDO) for the “Development of fuel lower-carbon solutions based on CCS
GREENER PACKAGING gata Prefecture. Furthermore, a portion ammonia production and utilization and hydrogen by 2035 as one of its key
of the hydrogen will be converted into technologies/technology development growth pillars.
Ineos begins plastic production using recycled ETHYLENE SUPPLIES

feedstock in France Court orders Nova Chemicals to pay $1.2-bn

UK’s chemicals giant, Ineos, has stringent EU regulatory requirements ing waste that cannot be processed by in damages to Dow
announced that Ineos Olefi ns & Poly- for other demanding applications such mechanical recycling. The pyrolysis oil
mers in Lavera, Southern France, has as caps and closures, milk bottles, will be used in the cracker to make recycled A Canadian court has ordered Nova In 2018, the court found that Nova
received the fi rst deliveries of feedstock and water pipes. ethylene and propylene for conversion Chemicals to pay Dow an additional failed to run the plant at full capacity
made from recycling plastic waste. into virgin-quality, recycled polyethy- amount of CAD$1.62-bn (US$1.2-bn) and did not meet its contract obliga-
This product, called pyrolysis oil, will Part of the Lavera cracker had to be lene and polypropylene in the Ineos poly- in damages incurred from the compa- tions with Dow starting in 2001, re-
be used to manufacture recycled poly- adapted to enable production of these mer plants located in Lavera and Sarralbe nies’ jointly owned ethylene asset in sulting in reduced ethylene to Dow.
mers, helping its customers meet the materials from renewable naphtha (France), and Rosignano (Italy). Joffre, Alberta, Canada. On appeal, the court directed that
EU requirements for food contact, made from sources such as biomass, Dow’s damages be recalculated for
medical and sensitive plastic packaging organic waste, or recycled materials, The Lavera site is one of the largest The ruling adds to a previous pay- the period from 2001 through 2012,
to have a minimum of 10% recycled alongside traditional feedstocks. petrochemicals sites in Europe. The ment of US$1.08-bn made by Nova to April 7, 2025, but excludes subsequent as well as for the period from 2013
content by 2030. cracker and polymer plants have been Dow in 2019. interest or legal costs. Payment is anti- through June 2018, which had not yet
The pyrolysis oil is made in Europe wholly owned by Ineos since April cipated to occur in the fourth quarter of been quantified. The judgment is
These new grades will help satisfy from post-consumer plastic packag- 2024. The award includes interest to 2025. subject to appeal.

144 Chemical Weekly June 24, 2025 Chemical Weekly June 24, 2025 145

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