CF Industries Holding, the global ammonia producer, and South Korean steelmaker POSCO Holdings, are evaluating a joint venture to construct a clean ammonia plant at CFI’s Blue Point Complex in Ascension Parish, Louisiana, according to a news release.
The arrangement would include long-term ammonia offtake into South Korea.
As part of the evaluation, CFI and POSCO will initiate a front-end engineering and design (FEED) study on autothermal reforming (ATR) ammonia production technology, which when combined with carbon capture and sequestration is expected to reduce CO2 emissions from the ammonia production process by more than 90% compared to conventional ammonia plants without CCS.
The FEED study is expected to be completed in the second half of 2024, with a final investment decision by CF Industries and POSCO to follow.
POSCO expects to import low-carbon clean ammonia from the facility to South Korea to support decarbonization of POSCO’s own and third-party coal-based power generation facilities. Additionally, POSCO intends to convert low-carbon clean ammonia into hydrogen in order to use low-carbon hydrogen in gas-based power plants and in the steel-making process itself.
“The United States is one of the key strategic regions for POSCO Group as it is actively pursuing the establishment of an economically and reliably overseas hydrogen and ammonia supply network through the IRA support policy,” Yoo Byeong-ok, Chief Green Materials & Energy Business Officer at POSCO Holdings, said in the release. “We plan to establish a production hub for clean ammonia in the United States in collaboration with CF Industries, the largest ammonia producer, and secure a stable supply network to timely provide clean hydrogen necessary for domestic power generation and hydrogen reduction steelmaking.”
CFI is constructing a CO2 dehydration and compression facility to enable CCS of up to 2 mmtpy with ExxonMobil, starting in 2025.
The Company has also commenced a FEED study with Mitsui & Co. to construct a greenfield low-carbon clean ammonia facility utilizing steam methane reforming (SMR) ammonia technology along with CCS at the Blue Point Complex in Louisiana.
Additionally, CF Industries is constructing North America’s first commercial scale green ammonia capacity at its Donaldsonville Complex, enabling up to 20,000 tons of green ammonia production beginning in 2024.
