US oil and gas business ExxonMobil has signed a long-term offtake deal to supply Japanese trading company Marubeni Corporation with 250,000 tonnes of low-carbon ammonia a year.
ExxonMobil will supply the ammonia from its planned hydrogen plant in Baytown, Texas. This ammonia will be utilised at the Kobe Power Plant, owned by Kobe Steel, in Hyogo prefecture, Japan.
Marubeni has also signed a deal to acquire an equity stake in the Baytown facility.
The Baytown plant is expected to be among the world’s largest blue hydrogen plants, with the capacity to supply enough hydrogen to generate over one million tonnes of ammonia per year, with around 98% of CO2 captured.
ExxonMobil expects to take a final investment decision on the project this year, subject to supportive government policy and required regulatory approvals.
Barry Engle, President of ExxonMobil Low Carbon Solutions, said,” By using American-produced natural gas, we can boost global energy … support Japan’s decarbonisation goals, and create jobs.”
By 2030, Kobe Power Plant is slated to co-fire low-carbon ammonia with existing fuel for reduced CO2 emissions. Several other companies have announced similar targets, including Mitsui & Co, JFE Holdings, and Kansai Electric Power Company.
In January, ExxonMobil signed a heads of agreement with French ammonia distributor firm Trammo for the supply of up to 500,000 tonnes of blue ammonia from the Baytown site.
