Sembcorp to build green ammonia plant in Tuticorin for export to Japan

Chennai: Singapore's Sembcorp Industries Ltd will build a plant to produce green ammonia at Tuticorin in Tamil Nadu for export of the zero-emission fuel to Japan, the company said Wednesday.

Tamil Nadu chief minister M K Stalin laid the foundation stone of the green ammonia plant at Tuticorin, it said in a statement.

Ammonia is a pungent gas that is widely used to make agricultural fertilisers. Green ammonia production is where the process of making ammonia is 100 per cent renewable and carbon-free.

Ammonia is made by combining nitrogen and hydrogen which are highly abundant elements. Earth's atmosphere is mostly nitrogen, and water is full of hydrogen. To make green ammonia, electricity generated from renewable sources such as sunlight and wind is used to split hydrogen from water in an electrolyser and then feed it into a reactor along with nitrogen.

Green ammonia, which when burnt produces only water and nitrogen, is currently used to make fertilizers but can also used to generate electricity and power ships.

The foundation laying of Sembcorp's plant follows the signing of the first-ever agreement for the export of green ammonia from India to Japan on Tuesday.

The Heads of Terms (HoT) agreement was signed between Sembcorp Industries, and Japanese firms Sojitz Corporation, Kyushu Electric Power Co and NYK Line.

The offtake agreement for the Singapore-facilitated cross-border export of green ammonia from India to Japan represents the first such collaboration between the

three nations.