Uhde and Uniper to partner on ammonia cracking

thyssenkrupp Uhde and Uniper are entering into a strategic partnership to bring large-scale ammonia cracking technology to technological maturity. In the first phase, a demonstration plant with a capacity of 28 t/d of ammonia per day will be built at Uniper’s Gelsenkirchen-Scholven site in Germany. The plant will serve as the basis for the planned hydrogen import terminal in Wilhelmshaven, northwestern Germany, where the technology is to be applied on a large industrial scale in a second phase. The aim of the partnership is to convert imported ammonia into hydrogen on an industrial scale and make it available for a wide range of industries such as energy, steel, and chemicals. The cooperation marks an important step towards strengthening energy security and the sustainable transformation of energy-intensive industries. The partners say that the use of ammonia as a transport and storage medium makes it possible to provide green or low-carbon hydrogen from global production sites in large quantities at low cost – a prerequisite for the successful ramp-up of the hydrogen economy.

Holger Kreetz, COO of Uniper said: “Uniper is actively committed to establishing hydrogen as an important component of the future energy mix that combines security and sustainability. Our aim is to strengthen the resilience of the economy. In order to meet Germany’s future hydrogen needs, we are dependent on imports from abroad. The partnership between Uniper and thyssenkrupp Uhde is therefore an important milestone for the hydrogen ramp-up and the decarbonisation of industry. With the ammonia cracker in Scholven, we’re laying the groundwork to trade hydrogen internationally and making it available across industries.”