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Nitrogen+Syngas 394 Mar-Apr 2025

19 March 2025

Toyo to license new large scale urea plant

ANGOLA

Toyo to license new large scale urea plant

Toyo Engineering Corporation (TEC) will license its ACES-21 urea technology to Angolan fertilizer producer Amufert for the Soyo urea plant in Angola. The plant will have a capacity of 4,000 t/d and will be the first of its kind in the country, based on abundant local natural gas supplies. Toyo Engineering will supply licensing, basic design, certain equipment procurement and technical services, while international engineering company Wuhuan Engineering will lead the engineering, procurement and construction of the plant. Production is expected to start in 2027. KBR was previously awarded the license for the 2,300 t/d ammonia plant in November 2024 (see Nitrogen+Syngas 393, Jan/Feb 2025, p6).

Latest in Africa

Dangote to fund new urea plant

Aliko Dangote, self styled “Africa’s richest man”, has signed a $2.5 billion partnership with the Ethiopian Government to build one of the world’s largest single-site fertiliser plants in Gode, Somali Regional State. The was signed on August 28th by Dangote Group and Ethiopian Investment Holdings, the government’s strategic investment arm. Under the agreement, Dangote Group will hold a controlling 60% equity share, with EIH taking the remaining 40%. EIH says that the facility will be “among the top five largest urea production complexes globally… with production facilities boasting a combined capacity of up to three million metric tons per annum.” The project will take gas feedstock via pipeline from the Calub and Hilala gas fields, with provisions for future expansions into ammonia-based fertilisers.

Green ammonia project proposal

The Namibian mining town of Arandis is reportedly in discussions with Cleanergy Solutions Namibia concerning a $2.85 billion investment to develop a large-scale green ammonia production site at Aran-dis, targeting production of 200,000 t/a of ammonia in the first phase based on abundant local solar energy. The Aran-dis Town Council approved the project in 2024 and is in the process of acquiring 2,400 hectares of land for the project, which is subject to the award of an Environmental Clearance Certificate, expected in the second quarter of 2026. The construction phase of the project will begin in 4Q 2026, with operations due to begin in 2030. Local infrastructure development will include pipelines and storage tanks for water, hydrogen and ammonia, as well as port, railway, road and power infrastructure, and may include handling and storage facilities. Cleanergy Solutions is a joint venture between Olthaver & List and Belgian company, CMB.TECH. It has operated a green hydrogen pilot project near Walvis Bay since 2024.

Coal based fertilizer and methanol plant proposal

Suiso, a South African company specialising in blue ammonia production, is set to invest $1.7 billion in a coal-to-fertiliser facility in Kriel, Mpumalanga in the east of South Africa. The proposal is for a 1.5 million t/a ‘blue’ ammonia-urea plant which will replace South Africa’s annual imports of 1.2 million t/a of urea, as well as producing 235,000 t/a of blue methanol for fuels, using advanced decarbonisation and carbon capture technologies. Suiso is partnering with Sinopec Ningbo Engineering, Stamicarbon, and ETG – the latter will distribute Suiso’s fertilisers across Africa, supporting local agriculture and long-term food security.