Category: Asia

Japan’s New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO) says that the world’s first commercial-use ammonia-fuelled vessel, Sakigake, has successfully completed a three-month demonstration voyage, during which the vessel engaged in tugboat operations in Tokyo Bay, while achieving greenhouse gas (GHG) emission reductions of up to 95%. The vessel was completed by Nippon Yusen Kabushiki Kaisha (NYK) and IHI Power Systems in August 2024, in cooperation with Nippon Kaiji Kyokai (ClassNK) as part of a Green Innovation Fund Project. NEDO says that the vessel will continue to be used for tugboat operations in Tokyo Bay, and the organisation will continue to promote research and development of next-generation fuel vessels, including developing an ammonia-fuelled ammonia gas carrier, in conjunction with NYK, Japan Engine Corporation, IPS, and Nippon Shipyard. This vessel is scheduled to be delivered in November 2026.

The Kazakh government has approved the construction of a new ammonia and urea plant in the country’s Mangistau region, on the eastern shore of the Caspian Sea. Construction will be carried out by a joint venture between QazaqGaz National Company and ESTA Construction under Qazesta Fertilizers Ltd. The total investment for the project is $1.35 billion, with construction expected to be completed within three and a half years. The plant’s annual production capacity is projected to reach up to 700,000 t/a of urea and 420,000 t/a of ammonia, adding value to the country’s natural gas production and helping to substitute domestic production for foreign imports of nitrogen fertilizer. Despite a national demand of 3.2 million t/a, domestic production currently only meets about half of that need.

thyssenkrupp Uhde has been awarded a contract by Gujarat Narmada Valley Fertilizers & Chemicals Ltd. (GNFC) for the construction of a weak nitric acid plant in Bharuch, Gujarat state. The scope of work includes license, basic engineering, detailed engineering, procurement, construction, commissioning, and start-up services. The plant will have a capacity of 600 t/d of weak nitric acid, and will use Uhde’s proven EnviNOx® technology to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by eliminating nitrogen oxides from nitric acid production. This will be the third weak nitric acid plant licensed by Uhde to GNFC’s Bharuch site, in a partnership going back more than three decades.

Joint venture between Wastech Group and Pursell Agri-Tech to establish state-of-the-art CFC facility in Malaysia

Clariant's EnviCat N2O removal catalysts cuts 44,000 tons/month CO2e emissions at GNFC nitric acid plant in Gujarat, India

Indonesian nickel miner Merdeka Battery Materials (MBMA) and partners have signed definitive agreements to construct a high-pressure acid leach (HPAL) plant on the Morowali industrial park, Sulawesi. The unit will have a nameplate capacity of 90,000 t/a of contained nickel in mixed hydroxide precipitate (MHP). PT Sulawesi Nickel Cobalt (SLNC) will construct and operate the plant adjacent to the existing HPAL plant operated by PT Huayue Nickel Cobalt (HNC). SLNC will source and process laterite nickel ore through a 20 year commercial agreement with MBMA's SCM mine, starting from the commissioning date. An ore preparation plant will be built at the SCM mine to enable ore transportation via pipeline to the SLNC processing plant at IMIP. The total combined investment for constructing SLNC (including interest incurred during construction) is expected to be approximately $1.8 billion according to Merdeka. Construction of the project commenced in January 2025 and is expected to reach commissioning stage within 18 months.

KT-Kinetics technology has signed an $125 million engineering, procurement, construction and commissioning (EPCC) contract to build a hydrogen production unit at Petronas’ Pengerang Biorefinery, Malaysia. The hydrogen plan is expected to be operational by the second half of 2028, and will supply up to 38,000 normal m3 /h of hydrogen for the production of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) and hydrogenated vegetable oil (HVO). NextChem will license its NX ReformTM technology for the unit. The new biorefinery will process approximately 650,000 t/a of raw materials such as used vegetable oils, animal fats and waste from the processing of vegetable oils to produce sustainable aviation fuel (SAF), hydrotreated vegetable oil (HVO) and bio-naphtha.

Casale is partnering with Indian renewable energy company Avaada Group to develop a 1,500 t/d green ammonia plant in Gopalpur, Odisha. This represents India’s largest grassroots green ammonia facility to date, and will be powered entirely by renewable energy. Casale will provide the ammonia process license, basic engineering package, proprietary equipment, and detailed engineering review, ensuring the facility operates at the highest levels of efficiency and sustainability. The plant will use Casale’s FlexAMMONIA technology, part of the FLEXIGREEN® portfolio.

India’s push to replace its sizeable urea imports with home grown capacity continues, but may not keep pace with rising domestic demand.

Yara Clean Ammonia has signed a time-charter contract with Nippon Yusen Kabushiki Kaisha (NYK) for an ammonia-fuelled medium gas carrier, to be delivered in November 2026. Medium gas carriers are the most popular type of vessel for international shipping of ammonia, and Yara and NYK have been studying the possibilities of running them off ammonia fuel since 2021. Yara Clean Ammonia operates the largest global ammonia network with 15 ships and has, through Yara, access to 18 ammonia terminals and multiple ammonia production and consumption sites across the world. Yara says that use of an AFMGC will contribute to reducing GHG emissions from marine transportation and developing an ammonia supply chain by providing a more environment-friendly means of ammonia transport as demand grows for ammonia use in the power sector, for marine fuel, and the like.