Abu Dhabi National Oil Company’s (ADNOC’s) first shipment of low-carbon ammonia recently left the United Arab Emirates (UAE) bound for Hamburg, Germany. This is the first cargo of low-carbon ammonia to be shipped to Germany.

Low-carbon ammonia is made from nitrogen and hydrogen derived from natural gas feedstocks, with the carbon dioxide by-product from hydrogen production captured and stored (blue ammonia).

The demonstration cargo will be delivered to Aurubis, a leading global provider of non-ferrous metals and one of the largest copper recyclers worldwide, that has its headquarters in Hamburg. On arrival in Germany, Hamburger Hafen und Logistik AG (HHLA), one of Europe’s leading logistics companies, will handle the cargo.

Produced by Fertiglobe, a partnership between ADNOC and OCI, at its Fertil plant in Abu Dhabi’s Ruwais industrial complex, the demonstration cargo is the first of several test cargoes sold to customers in Germany as ADNOC expands its strategic energy partnership across the hydrogen value chain. The cargo follows a number of similar low-carbon ammonia sales that have been made to customers in Asia.

Aurubis plans to utilize the low-carbon ammonia as a feedstock in its wire rod plant, testing its application as an additional, lower-carbon energy source for industial utilization. The hydrogen it contains has the potential to be a low-carbon energy alternative for the energy-intensive processes in multi-metal production.

This is another important milestone in the planned scale-up of hydrogen and low-carbon ammonia production capabilities in Abu Dhabi, where ADNOC is developing a new world-scale 1 million tons per annum low-carbon ammonia plant at TA’ZIZ, the chemicals, industrial services and logistics hub in the Ruwais Industrial Complex. (Earlier post.)

Building on its position as an early mover in the production of hydrogen, ADNOC plans to grow its hydrogen production significantly in support of the UAE’s ambition to supply up to 25% of imported hydrogen in key global markets.

Germany’s national hydrogen strategy expects an import demand for clean hydrogen of approximately 3 million tons per annum (mtpa) by 2030 and up to 15 mtpa by 2050 when, according to research from the Hydrogen Council, hydrogen could meet up to 18% of the world’s energy demand.