The Smart Energy Council and Hydrogen Australia have announced that ammonia company Yara has become a Founding Partner in the Zero Carbon Certification Scheme.
The Zero Carbon Certification Scheme is an industry-led, certificate of origin-style scheme for renewable hydrogen, renewable ammonia and renewable metals produced in Australia.
Yara and ENGIE are building a renewable hydrogen plant within Yara’s existing ammonia plant in the Pilbara region of Western Australia to deliver green ammonia to customers.
The project, supported by funding from the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) comprises a 10 megawatt electrolyser, an on-site facility of photovoltaic panels, and a battery storage system that will allow the plant to operate without being connected to the main electrical grid.
Scheduled to commence production in 2023, the first concrete phase of the project is planned to produce up to 625 tonnes of renewable hydrogen and 3,700 tonnes of renewable ammonia per year.
Chief Executive of the Smart Energy Council, John Grimes, said that they are thrilled to be partnering with Yara, one of the world’s leading producers and solution providers of ammonia, fertilisers and mining explosives.
“Yara’s Pilbara ammonia plant currently represents 5 per cent of the global market for ammonia and Yara is showing real leadership in decarbonising the plant step-by-step,” Mr Grimes said.
Vice-President Product and Portfolio, Yara Clean Ammonia, Sammy Van Den Broeck, said: “We are very happy to be part of this ground-breaking project in Australia. Certification will be essential to create a market for green ammonia.”
“The initiative will provide guarantees to our customers in Asia, Australia or Europe that the quantities supplied have been produced according to set standards and will inform the customers about key attributes such as renewable origin and greenhouse gas footprint.”
“Certified clean ammonia exports from our Pilbara asset will be a cornerstone in Yara’s global trading ammonia network, providing customers in shipping fuel, power, fertiliser and industrial solutions with a reliable and transparent product,” said Mr Van Den Broeck.
The other Founding Partners of the Zero Carbon Certification Scheme are: the ACT and Victorian Governments; the Ammonia Energy Association; COP26 High Level Champions for Climate Action; CWP Global; Energy Web; Power Ledger; Star Scientific; Evoenergy and the ACT Renewables Hub.
The German Energy Agency (dena) and the Australian National University are Advisers and Green Hydrogen Catapult is a Partner Initiative for the scheme.
