Category: Industrial

Australia’s NH3 Clean Energy, formerly Hexagon Energy Materials, has signed a memorandum of understanding with the Pilbara Ports Authority to explore options for the loading and export of 600,000 tonnes per annum (TPA) of clean ammonia from its flagship WAH2 project. The MoU is intended to establish operational arrangements and binding agreements supporting ammonia export from the project, covering ship loading for both export and bunkering customers. Ammonia would be transported from the WAH2 plant to the port of Dampier by a newbuild pipeline located in the existing infrastructure corridor and loaded onto ships at the port’s bulk liquids berth, subject to availability and commercial agreements.

Energy company Mabanaft says that it plans to convert four of its tanks at the Blumensand tank terminal in the Port of Hamburg over the next two years. The company’s aim is to facilitate the import of low-carbon methanol to northern Germany. Mabanaft expects demand for low carbon methanol to grow in future, both in the shipping and other transport sectors, as well as in the chemical industry.

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.

Repsol has approved a historic €800 million investment in Ecoplanta, a pioneering project in Europe to transform urban waste into renewable fuels and circular products, adding a solution for reducing CO2 emissions in the transport sector, while at the same time promoting the circular economy. Located in Tarragona, the facility will be the first in Europe to produce methanol from municipal waste via a gasification process developed by Enerkem - a technology company in which Repsol is a partner – using waste that would otherwise end up in landfills or be incinerated.

Maire Group subsidiary MET Development, together with Eni and utility company Iren Ambiente, have started the permitting process for a renewable methanol and hydrogen plant at Eni’s refinery in Sannazzaro de’ Burgondi near Pavia. The plant will be developed using NextChem’s NX Circular™ technology, which allows the plant to convert waste by generating syngas, which is subsequently used to produce high quality sustainable fuels and chemicals. Once completed, the plant will be able to convert approximately 200,000 t/a of non-recyclable waste supplied by Iren’s waste management unit Iren Ambiente into synthesis gas. This will in turn be converted to produce up to 110,000 t/a of renewable methanol, as a potential fuel for decarbonisation of the maritime sector. It will also produce up to 1,500 t/a of hydrogen, which could be used in refinery processes, reducing CO2 emissions compared to fossil-generated hydrogen, or, alternatively, for sustainable mobility in road and rail transport. The plant will also recover 33,000 t/a of inert granulate, which can be used for the cement industry. The plant will use infrastructure and services already available at the refinery to optimise costs.

Orica says it has achieved a decarbonisation milestone by eliminating 1.0 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2-e) from its Kooragang Island site, the equivalent of taking 600,000 cars off the road. The emissions reduction is the result of deployment of tertiary abatement technology on three nitric acid plants, in a project co-financed by the New South Wales Government’s Net Zero Industry and Innovation Program and the Federal Government’s Clean Energy Finance Corporation. The Clean Energy Regulator also approved the project as eligible to generate Australian carbon credit units.

Topsoe has been selected by Guangxi Free Trade Zone Chuangui Lingang New Energy Co., Ltd to deliver technology and services to produce sustainable aviation fuels (SAF) and renewable diesel.

Anglo American and Codelco have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the aim of jointly developing their neigh-bouring Los Bronces and Andina copper mines in central Chile.

BHP has awarded a significant engineering, procurement, and construction management (EPCM) contract to a joint venture between Fluor Australia Pty Ltd and Hatch Pty Ltd. The A$40 million contract is for the first phase of the proposed expansion of BHP's copper smelter and refinery facilities in South Australia, as the company moves towards a final investment decision on the smelter and refinery expansion, currently anticipated in the first half of FY27. The initial stage focuses on strategic planning and development during the project's study phases. Subsequent stages will cover detailed engineering, procurement, and construction management as the project advances.

LKAB has begun construction of its new demonstration plant for processing phosphorus and rare earth elements at Luleå. The facility is the first in a planned industrial park and, says LKAB, marks an important step in the company's ambition to diversify its business with new minerals. The supply of phosphorus for mineral fertilizers is essential for food security in Sweden and the EU, while rare earth elements are critical for the electrification and digitalisation of society, such as the production of permanent magnets for electric vehicles and wind turbines. The $75 million demonstrator plant is planned to become operational in 2026. The aim is to further develop and verify the process for utilizing material flows from iron ore production in Gällivare, where apatite concentrate is produced for further refinement and production of critical minerals in Luleå. Through a stepwise expansion, the operations can then be scaled up with additional processing facilities over time, aiming for full operation during the 2030s. Once fully operational, the industrial park’s production will be approximately seven times Sweden’s needs and 6% of the EU’s demand for phosphorus in agriculture. Currently, there is no mining of rare earth elements in Europe.