• Skip to main content

    402 Jul-Aug 2026

    10 June 2026

    thyssenkrupp Uhde and Fuella advance twin Brazilian green ammonia hubs

    Written by Natalie Noor-Drugan

    Germany’s thyssenkrupp Uhde has signed pre‑FEED contracts with Fuella AS, a Bergen‑based developer and operator of green hydrogen and green ammonia projects founded in 2020, for two 400,000 tpa green ammonia plants at the ports of Pecém and Açu in Brazil. The Pecém Green Ammonia Project (PeGA) and the Açu Green Ammonia Project (AçuGA) will be powered entirely by renewable energy and are intended to become Fuella’s first large‑scale export hubs for green ammonia.

    The pre‑FEED work will use thyssenkrupp Uhde’s uhde® ammonia synthesis technology, configured for the fluctuating operating profiles that come with renewable‑powered electrolysis. Engineering teams will optimise the process concept, firm up key design parameters and test project economics, with a view to de‑risking later FEED and EPC phases. Scope also includes integration engineering across the wider complexes, covering electrolysis systems, balance‑of‑plant and ammonia storage and offloading infrastructure at each port site.

    For Fuella, the studies are a platform to progress commercial milestones and execution strategies on its first Brazilian schemes while building out a broader green fuels pipeline. Nadja Håkansson, COO of thyssenkrupp Decarbon Technologies and CEO of thyssenkrupp Uhde, said the collaboration on PeGA and AçuGA aims to enable “reliable and efficient ammonia production based on renewable energy” and underlines both companies’ ambition to accelerate the energy transition. Fuella managing director Dr Thorsten Helms said thyssenkrupp Uhde’s technology position, understanding of the local context and willingness “to truly partner” were key factors in its selection as pre‑FEED contractor.

    Natalie Noor-Drugan

    Read more from Natalie Noor-Drugan

    Latest in Latin America

    Chile’s lawmakers to investigate Codelco

    Members of the lower house in Chile’s Congress have unanimously approved creation of a special investigative commission to examine a series of alleged irregularities at state-owned copper producer Codelco. The issues are: overestimation of production by almost 27,000 t last year; a multimillion-dollar renovation of the company’s headquarters in Santiago; and, maybe, the collapse of a chimney at Potrerillos copper smelter in the Atacama region of northern Chile. The structural failure has forced a production suspension.

    Cartagena refinery enters solid sulphur market

    Cartagena Refinery has entered the solid sulphur market, diversifying its petrochemical portfolio, according to a company statement on 21 May. The first shipment of 260 tonnes has already been dispatched to the domestic market. This new venture is enabled by a recently commissioned pelletising plant that converts liquid sulphur into solid pellets, with a production capacity of 1,000 t/d. The refinery is targeting Colombia’s fertilizer, chemical, and mining industries, and is also planning to export to international markets, including Brazil, Peru, and countries in Africa.

    Petrobras to resume construction at Tres Lagoas

    Petrobras PBR has said that it plans to restart construction of the long-delayed UFN-III fertilizer plant in Três Lagoas, Mato Grosso do Sul, with work at the site expected to resume by September. UFN-III, with a planned capacity of 2,200 t/d of ammonia and 3,600 t/d of urea, was partially completed in the 2010s, but the site has been inactive and unfinished since 2015. Petrobras now intends to complete the project with an estimated investment of $1 billion, targeting commercial operations by 2029. The site was chosen as it was strategically positioned near several of Brazil’s largest agribusiness regions, including Mato Grosso, Mato Grosso do Sul, Goiás, Paraná and São Paulo.

    Methanex to close Titan methanol plant

    Methanex says that it has been unable to agree to a new natural gas contract for its 860,000 t/a Titan methanol plant in Trinidad and Tobago, and, as a result, will begin the process of indefinitely idling the facility. Titan’s existing natural gas contract expires in the third quarter of 2026. Methanex says that it will undertake a preservation process at the Titan plant to provide options for a future restart should conditions materially improve. The neighbouring 1/7 million t/a Atlas methanol plant, a joint venture in which Methanex holds a 63.1% economic interest, remains indefinitely idled in a preserved state.