POSCO Holdings to Promote Blue Ammonia Business Collaboration in the US

JDA Signed with CF Industries at H2 MEET 2023 on the 14th

POSCO Building, Yeoksam-dong, Gangnam-gu, Seoul. Photo by Younghan Heo younghan@

POSCO Holdings is advancing business cooperation with CF Industries, the world's largest ammonia producer, to produce blue ammonia in the United States. Blue ammonia is ammonia made from blue hydrogen, which removes carbon dioxide through CCS (Carbon Capture and Storage) technology.

On the 14th, POSCO Holdings signed a term sheet for a JDA (Joint Development Agreement) with CF Industries at H2 MEET 2023, held at KINTEX in Ilsan, to promote the blue ammonia project in Louisiana, USA.

CF Industries owns large-scale ammonia production plants in the US, Canada, and other regions, with an annual ammonia production capacity of 9 million tons. Based on the term sheet, the two companies will review detailed plans and budgets for the blue ammonia production project.

The Louisiana blue ammonia project, based on ATR technology and CCS technology, can reduce carbon dioxide emissions by more than 90% compared to conventional ammonia production methods, and is expected to receive subsidy benefits under the US IRA (Inflation Reduction Act). ATR (Auto-Thermal Reforming) is an eco-friendly manufacturing technology that produces hydrogen by utilizing heat generated internally through oxygen injection, unlike conventional technology that produces hydrogen by combusting natural gas.

POSCO Holdings plans to transport the blue ammonia produced in the Louisiana project to Korea, convert it into hydrogen, and use it for hydrogen reduction steelmaking and hydrogen co-firing power generation.

Byung-ok Yoo, Vice President and Head of Eco-friendly Future Materials at POSCO Holdings, said, "The US is one of POSCO Group's key strategic countries pursuing the establishment of an economical and stable global hydrogen/ammonia supply chain. We will actively consider participating in the domestic clean co-firing bidding market scheduled to open next year by successfully advancing the Louisiana blue ammonia project."

POSCO Group is developing various green and blue hydrogen projects centered on strategic countries with excellent renewable energy infrastructure such as Australia, the Middle East, and North America to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050 and establish a hydrogen production system of 7 million tons.

Meanwhile, on the 13th and 14th, POSCO Holdings signed comprehensive MOUs with several domestic and international partners, including Argentina's YPF Group, Thailand's PTTEP, and Korea South-East Power, regarding green hydrogen business and low-carbon solution collaboration.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.