Japan’s Mitsubishi Corporation is teaming up with South Korea’s Lotte Chemical and German energy firm RWE to study the possibility of producing clean ammonia.

The planned production of so-called blue and green ammonia, of a large-scale clean ammonia import and export project, will take place in the port of Corpus Christi, Texas. 

The Parties target first production by 2030 and a phased build-out of production capacity with multiple production units. In the final build-out stage the project is envisaged to produce up to 10 million tons of clean ammonia per year. 

The land required for the project is under discussion with the Port of Corpus Christi Authority, while the partners said that they are bringing together complementary expertise to develop the project.

Ammonia and hydrogen are at a core of developed nations’ efforts, Japan included, to reach zero-carbon emissions towards the middle of the century.

Ammonia (NH3) is a compound of nitrogen and hydrogen and is currently used as a raw material for fertilisers, plastics and chemicals. There are growing expectations that ammonia will become a next-generation clean energy source, as ammonia does not emit carbon dioxide when burned. 

As ammonia requires significantly less cooling for liquefaction than hydrogen, it is also considered to be the most economical carrier for the transport of hydrogen molecules by ship. 

Blue ammonia is typically referred to as ammonia that is derived from hydrogen that is produced via natural gas feedstock and combining technologies such as carbon capture & storage to ensure the ammonia is low carbon. Green ammonia is typically referred to as ammonia that is derived from hydrogen that is produced via water electrolysis based on renewable energy.