Abu Dhabi to partner with Japan's Mitsui, South Korea's GS Energy on blue ammonia plant

Japan's Mitsui and South Korea's GS Energy have agreed to take stakes in a 1 million mt/year blue ammonia plant being developed at the UAE's industrial city of Ruwais, building on the commercial ties they have developed with Abu Dhabi National Oil Co., the companies announced Nov. 16.

The deal also includes an off-take agreement for Mitsui and GS Energy to purchase "significant volumes of low-carbon blue ammonia."

No terms were disclosed, nor how large the stakes are, which are subject to regulatory approval.

A final investment decision on the ammonia plant is expected in 2022, with a targeted start-up date of 2025, ADNOC has previously said.

"As the world embraces the energy transition, we will work closely with our new partners to jointly develop new hydrogen markets and applications for low-carbon ammonia to meet the needs of global export markets for the energy and industry markets in Japan and Korea," ADNOC CEO Sultan al-Jaber said in a statement.

GS Energy, which has a 3% stake in ADNOC Onshore, in October signed a contract with ADNOC to import blue ammonia, intending to use the fuel to generate electricity or crack into blue hydrogen.

Mitsui is a partner with ADNOC on its ADNOC LNG subsidiary.

The companies said the blue ammonia produced at the site will be "low-carbon," with the carbon dioxide by-product captured and stored.

The facility is being developed by Taziz and Fertiglobe. Taziz is an industrial joint venture of ADNOC and state holding company ADQ, while chemicals company Fertiglobe, is a joint venture of ADNOC and OCI.

ADNOC and OCI raised $795 million from an initial public offering of Fertiglobe shares in October.