The joint venture between Aker Clean Hydrogen and Varanger Kraft to create a green hydrogen and ammonia plant in Berlevg, Norway, is making progress toward its goal of decarbonizing arctic shipping and off-grid power plants.
The green ammonia will be created using water and renewable energy from the Raggovidda wind farm and will be used in place of typical fossil fuels in ships, rigs, and off-grid power stations, thereby avoiding the emission of around 200,000 tons of CO2 per year.
The feasibility study and idea phase of the project have been completed successfully. The project is designed for a 100 MW hydrogen plant, however pre-facilitation of a future 200 MW extension is being studied. By the end of 2024, the company intends to begin generating green ammonia.
“Our findings confirm that the Green Ammonia Berlevåg project is well placed to realize green ammonia production at scale to decarbonize arctic shipping and off grid power plants. The project continues to move forward towards becoming one of the first production plants of green ammonia,” says Knut Nyborg, Chief Executive Officer of Aker Clean Hydrogen.
“This is great news for us and our partners. The extended license deadline gives Varanger Kraft the opportunity to expand the capacity of Raggovidda to 200 MW with an additional 103 MW of wind power which in turn will result in higher supply of renewable power to the planned production plant in Berlevåg,” said Christian Bue, CEO of Green Ammonia Berlevåg AS, the recently formed joint venture between Aker Clean Hydrogen and Varanger Kraft.
“We have just produced the first kilogramme of clean hydrogen in Berlevåg, and we already see promising synergies,” adds Bue, who is also the CEO of Varanger Kraft Hydrogen AS.
Rolf Laupstad, mayor of Berlevåg, sees great potential for positive local ripple effects from realizing the Green Ammonia Berlevåg project. “This project is crucial for us to reach our ambition of making Berlevåg an Arctic power centre of green development. We are committed to doing everything we can politically and administratively to help this project succeed,” says Laupstad.
Stubholt, the Chairman of Green Ammonia Berlevåg AS underlines the maturity of the project: “This is a well-advanced project with a real head start, positioning the company to capture opportunities in a fast-moving market. When developing the emerging hydrogen and ammonia industry, the geography of Berlevåg in the Arctic proves central rather than peripheral. I am confident that this project will contribute to the development of a full value chain hydrogen industry in Norway, including driving growth in the region,” she adds.
