Coega To House South Africa’s First Green Ammonia Plant

The Coega Special Economic Zone has been chosen as the location for the country’s first R75-billion Green Ammonia project. Once fully operational it will be the first of its kind in the world.

Hive Hydrogen as well as Linde PLC, through its wholly-owned South African subsidiary Afrox, have teamed up for the development of the green ammonia export establishment.

By combining renewable solar and wind energy, the plant aims to produce up to 780-thousand tons of green ammonia annually made possible through renewable energy solutions.

Schalk Venter, CEO of Afrox, commented: “South Africa is one of the few regions around the world with very favourable conditions for green hydrogen and ammonia production and export. We are excited to be working on this transformative project in Nelson Mandela Bay with Hive Hydrogen to deliver the project’s full envisaged capacity producing 780,000 tons of ammonia for export to world markets.”

As climate change continues to be a global challenge, the world is on the constant lookout for areas to reduce the impact experienced by said challenges. The Green Ammonia Plant is one of such efforts.

With an increasingly high demand for ammonia, the project could not have arrived at a better time. Agricultural, chemical and mining ventures continue to put increased pressure on ammonia resources.

The opportunity to switch to Green Ammonia as a viable alternative will help relieve pressure through its supply to the maritime industry and its use as a coal substitute.

However, this is not just an opportunity to relieve pressure on the ammonia industry but also for job creation in Nelson Mandela Bay and surrounding areas. It is estimated that once the plant is fully operational the facility could provide employment to as many as 10,000 workers.

Khusta Jack, the Nelson Mandela Bay MMC for Economic Development, commented that the investment is good news for the city’s high unemployment rates.

The Green Ammonia Plant is planned to go live in 2025 and to be in full operation by the end of 2026.

But how does the extraction process work?

Through the use of solar and wind energy as renewable energy resources, the seawater can be desalinated and hydrogen can be extracted through the electrolysis process. At the same time, nitrogen is extracted from the air by utilizing an air separation unit.

The extracted hydrogen and nitrogen are then combined using a process of ammonia synthesis and green ammonia is produced. This is then cooled, liquefied and stored to be ready for export.

Renewable energy methods, such as wind and solar energy, has proven to be the cleanest and cheapest power source for the extraction and transformation process. Furthermore, hydrogen has is now being recognised as ‘the green fuel’ and is an important global economy driver for the future.

Thulani Gcabashe, Hive Hydrogen Chairmen, said the following: “The renewable energy and energy storage component alone will be the biggest project of its kind in Sub-Saharan Africa and one of the largest globally.”

Once a ship arrives to receive the shipment, the liquid ammonia is transferred directly via a pipeline from storage tanks and then loaded onto the ship.

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This is a massive step forward for renewable energy, particularly wind and solar energy, and for cleaner and greener energy production. This serves as an excellent opportunity for both South Africa and Nelson Mandela Bay as a whole as we are proud to be in proximity of such a prestigious project.

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