Maire Tecnimont will build a plant in the US to produce green ammonia for nitrogen-based fertiliser production from 2026.
Maire Tecnimont has won a contract to construct a green ammonia plant in the US. The Italian power and energy focused construction company will build the project on behalf of an unnamed fertiliser producer.
Maire Tecnimont subsidiary NextChem Holding received the contract through fellow subsidiary Stamicarbon. It will build the plant using the latter’s Stami Green Ammonia technology. The facility will have a 450tpd ammonia production capacity upon its completion in 2026.
Stami Green Ammonia is ammonia the company makes without the use of fossil fuels. Stamicarbon uses solar or wind power to create hydrogen from the electrolysis of water, thereafter adding nitrogen from the air. This creates ‘green’ or ‘renewable’ ammonia. Other companies can use this ammonia as a renewable feedstock for nitrogen-based fertilisers.
In a press statement, Maire CEO Alessandro Bernni said: “The global demand for ammonia will continue to grow, requiring efficient and environmentally friendly production methods to effectively reduce the carbon footprint. Stami Green Ammonia technology, using renewable energy instead of fossil fuels, represents an important step forward in achieving the fertiliser industry’s goals of sustainable, carbon-free solutions.”
The deal marks another step from Maire into the US. In 2022, Maire won US contracts for a urea-based diesel exhaust fluid project and a blue ammonia plant. Companies make ‘blue’ ammonia from natural gas with carbon capture and storage. Then Maire CEO Pierroberto Folgiero said at the time: “[The] United States represents one of the highest potential markets to break the ice in industrial scale decarbonisation initiatives.”
Much of this is aided by the US Government’s Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), which has seen European firms uproot production to the US in search of the benefits of its provisions. The act awards cean hydrogen with production tax credits to make the renewable chemical competitive with its natural gas alternative.
