Author: richardhands

The Deendayal Port Authority (DPA), Kandla, has issued a tender for the engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract to build India’s first port-based bio-methanol plant. The 3,500 t/a plant will use oxy-steam gasification technology to convert biomass into bio-methanol. The scope covers design, engineering, procurement, construction, commissioning, and product certification, with bidders required to outline plant life, warranties, capital expenditure, and operating costs. The move follows DPA’s earlier call in May for turnkey proposals for a larger integrated plant of over 15,000 t/a, and its February 2025 agreement with Bapu’s Shipping Jamnagar Pvt. Ltd. to develop India’s first bio-methanol bunkering facility, including a dedicated bunker barge, at Kandla Port.

Shipping classification society ClassNK has formed a consortium with IHI Corporation, JFE Steel, Tohoku University, and Institute of Science Tokyo to participate in Japan’s Feasibility Study Program on Energy and New Environmental Technology. The consortium will promote the development of stress corrosion cracking (SCC) probability evaluation tools for fuel ammonia storage tanks and transportation equipment. Initially, the consortium will conduct a detailed study of the SCC mechanism involved in steel cracking due to the combined effects of mechanical stress and corrosion caused by liquid ammonia. Thereafter, the consortium plans to develop tools for easily and accurately assessing SCC probability. Finally, opinions will be solicited from stakeholders to formulate risk-based maintenance procedures for fuel ammonia storage and transportation facilities, and marine fuel tanks ultimately to promote the expanded use of fuel ammonia.

Lummus Technology says that its Novolen® polypropylene technology has been selected for a new grassroots plant in Antwerp. The plant will be part of a complex owned by Vioneo which will be the world’s first industrial scale fossil-free plastics production complex. The complex, based on green methanol as feedstock, will also be highly electrified using renewable electricity and use renewable hydrogen as key components to its operations.

Eurotecnica says that Zhongneng Chemical Co., Ltd., a major player in China’s nitrogen-based fertiliser sector, has selected Eurotecnica’s proprietary Euromel® melamine technology for a new world-scale facility with a nameplate capacity of 120,000 t/a.

Chinese electrolyser manufacturer LONGi Green Energy has begun construction on a $325 million green methanol project in Inner Mongolia that will combine biomass gasification with hydrogen from the company’s electrolysers. The project, being developed at the Urad Rear Banner Industrial Park, will process 600,000 t/a of agricultural waste to produce 190,000 t/a of green methanol in the first phase. Phase 2 will expand ethanol capacity to 400,000 t/a, with hydrogen coming from new electrolysers powered by 850 MW of wind and 200 MW of solar power. LONGi says that the project will cut carbon dioxide emissions by 1.2 million t/a, while adding more than 1 GW of wind and solar capacity to the region’s energy mix.

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.

Clariant has signed a strategic cooperation agreement with Shanghai Boiler Works, a subsidiary of Shanghai Electric which specialises in energy conversion and the development of new energy applications, to jointly foster innovation in sustainable energy solutions. The partners say that they will combine their expertise to advance green energy projects in China.

NextChem subsidiary KT Tech has been awarded a licensing, process design package and engineering services contract by a major international energy company for the application of its proprietary NX eBlue™ (electric steam methane reforming) technology for the production of low-carbon hydrogen in the Southwest of the United States. NX eBlue™ technology, part of NextChem’s technological portfolio for syngas and hydrogen production, features an innovative electric steam methane reforming reactor along with a dedicated process scheme to produce low-carbon hydrogen. This technology significantly reduces CO2 production and incorporates integrated carbon capture to further minimise CO2 emissions, all allowing for operational flexibility and scalability.

Casale has been awarded a contract to supply melamine technology by Anhui Haoyuan Chemical Group. The new melamine plant will feature Casale’s uLEM-N technology, with a design capacity of 60,000 t/a, and will be fully integrated into an urea plant operated by Anhui Haoyuan. This is the third project that the two companies have developed together, following the successful implementation of two 1,500 t/a ammonia synthesis loop plants based on Casale’s N-LOOP™ technology.

Norwegian state-owned power group Statkraft says that it is moving ahead with plans for a 400 MW green hydrogen and ammonia production facility in the Shetland Islands, after securing a land lease near the disused Scatsta Airport. Known as the Shetland Hydrogen Project 2, the facility will use electrolytic hydrogen to produce green ammonia for a range of industrial applications, including use as a sustainable marine fuel and to help decarbonise fertiliser production.