The Pilbara area of Western Australia has chosen Lloyd’s Register (LR) to carry out important feasibility studies on using clean ammonia to refuel ships at the world-scale ports.
The announcement comes after Yara Clean Ammonia and Pilbara Ports Authority (PPA) signed a partnership agreement in August.
In order to evaluate the prospective uptake of ammonia refueling, LR will provide analysis focusing on important parameters (also known as bunkering). The market for clean fuels in shipping, shoreside infrastructure requirements, safety issues, and the rules necessary to facilitate ammonia bunkering at Pilbara ports will all be covered in the feasibility study. The study’s implementation is anticipated to take at least a year.
The final investment decision for Project Yuri, which will see the construction of a renewable hydrogen facility next to the Yara Pilbara’s current ammonia units close to PPA’s Dampier port, was revealed last month. The Yuri plant, the first initiative of its sort in Australia, is an innovation-leading strategy that will be among the first globally to demonstrate the use of renewable hydrogen as a feedstock to create ammonia at an existing ammonia factory.
Yara Clean Ammonia and PPA will attempt to form an advisory council as part of the study that will include representatives of shipping customers and providers to have input into the procedure.
