Incitec Pivot's ammonia facility in Brisbane to run on green hydrogen

Fortescue Future Industries (FFI) and Incitec Pivot (IPL) will move ahead with the conversion of the latter’s Gibson Island ammonia facility in Brisbane to run on green hydrogen, FFI said on October 7.

The companies have elected to start front end engineering design (Feed) work as well as execute a framework agreement to govern the project through to a final investment decision, which is expected in 2023.

With studies having confirmed its feasibility, the proposed project could see the construction of a new 500MW hydrogen electrolysis facility at the site to produce green hydrogen as well as the retrofitting of IPL’s existing ammonia manufacturing facility to run on the green hydrogen produced onsite.

Gibson Island facility will cease traditional fertiliser manufacturing early in the new year. IPL CEO Jeanne Johns said the company was pleased to create a pathway to a more sustainable future for the Gibson Island ammonia manufacturing facility after traditional fertiliser production ceases.

The Feed phase is anticipated to cost around A$38mn ($24.4mn), with the federal government, through the Australian Renewable Energy Agency, contributing A$13.7mn.

“Progressing this project into this final assessment stage is an important milestone in what will be a world-first conversion of an existing facility to become an industrial-scale producer of green hydrogen and green ammonia,” FFI CEO Mark Hutchison said.