bp Reveals Plans to Evaluate Expansion of Germany’s Green Energy Port with a New Hydrogen Hub
bp has announced evaluation of a new hydrogen hub in Wilhelmshaven, Germany incorporating an ammonia cracker capable of converting green ammonia – back into green hydrogen. The unit will have a capacity of 130,000 tons per year and would come online from 2028. Ammonia cracking is an enabling technology for large scale hydrogen because it is preferable to ship hydrogen in the form of ammonia between the point of production to the point of use. Typically, hydrogen is produced in places with access to cheap renewable energy such as solar PV and major production hubs are coming online in the Middle East, Africa and Australia.
The project would leverage the Nord-West Oelleitung (NWO) terminal at Wilhelmshaven, where bp is a participating shareholder and would utilise its current oil & gas pipelines to transport hydrogen which could then be transported to customers in the local Ruhr region. (bp, 2023)
Ammonia cracking is not a new technology – it has been around for many decades to provide on-purpose hydrogen in industrial processes. It requires a catalyst bed which in commodity units is generally a commodity nickel on alumina. Newer catalysts include ruthenium-based materials and the Siemen’s system which is part of the ammonia demonstrator project at the Rutherford-Appleton Laboratory in Oxfordshire UK uses a novel lithium amide-imide catalyst.
Electrocatalytic processes are also an option. For instance the Danish company Topsoe, which is a long-established supplier of both conventional ammonia synthesis and ammonia cracking catalysts, has developed its high temperature solid oxide electrolyser (SOEC) which can be used to generate nitrogen/hydrogen feed gas for ammonia synthesis. When the SOEC is run in fuel cell mode (SOFC) it can crack ammonia and the hydrogen produced is then combusted in a catalytic burner. (See Figure 1 below). The system runs with 8 x 50 kW SOEC units. (Hansen, 2018)
Source: bp 18/01/23
bp. (2023, January 18). Retrieved from bp: https://www.bp.com/en/global/corporate/news-and-insights/press-releases/bp-reveals-plans-to-evaluate-expansion-of-germany-green-energy-port-with-new-hydrogen-hub.html
Hansen, J. B. (2018, December 9). Topsoe’s Road Map to All Electric Ammonia Plants. New York: AiChE. Retrieved June 11, 2021