HD Hyundai Develops Korea's First Floating 'Ammonia Supply Vessel'

HD Hyundai has developed the first special vessel in Korea for the maritime supply of ammonia, an eco-friendly energy source gaining attention.

HD Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering and HD Hyundai Heavy Industries, subsidiaries of HD Hyundai's shipbuilding division, jointly developed the "Ammonia-FSRU (Floating Storage Regasification Unit for ammonia)" with the Korea National Oil Corporation (KNOC) and announced on the 19th that they obtained Approval In Principle (AIP) from Lloyd's Register in the UK. The AIP certification ceremony held at KNOC's Ulsan headquarters was attended by Seungho Jeon, Vice President and Head of Technology at HD Hyundai Heavy Industries; Kiil Nam, Executive Director of HD Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering; Beomhee Ahn, Head of ESG at KNOC; and Sunggu Park, Regional Director for Far East Asia at Lloyd's Register.

The newly developed Ammonia-FSRU is a vessel that stores liquefied ammonia transported from production sites and regasifies it back into gas form when needed to supply onshore demand. FSRUs typically berth at coastal mooring facilities and operate similarly to onshore terminals. Compared to onshore terminals, they offer advantages such as lower construction costs, shorter build times, and no need for large land acquisition.

The 170,000 m³ class LNG FSRU built by Hyundai Heavy Industries and delivered in 2020 [Photo provided by Hyundai Heavy Industries]

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Ammonia is an eco-friendly fuel that emits no carbon dioxide during combustion. When co-fired with coal, it can maintain power output while reducing carbon emissions. Domestically, Korea is promoting 20% ammonia co-firing in power generation to achieve the "2030 Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC)" greenhouse gas reduction target. Plans are underway to establish a 4 million ton ammonia distribution infrastructure by 2030.

Ammonia is also attracting attention as a carrier for storing and transporting hydrogen. As a compound of hydrogen and nitrogen, ammonia has a liquefaction temperature of minus 33 degrees Celsius, which is higher than hydrogen's liquefaction temperature of minus 253 degrees Celsius. When liquefied, ammonia has 1.7 times the hydrogen storage density of liquefied hydrogen at the same volume, making it suitable for large-scale, long-distance hydrogen transport and storage.

HD Hyundai expects that the development of the Ammonia-FSRU will provide a first-mover advantage as the market expands with increasing ammonia demand.

HD Hyundai, KNOC, and Lloyd's Register signed a joint development agreement for the Ammonia-FSRU in December last year. HD Hyundai Heavy Industries carried out the basic design, while HD Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering developed the regasification system, a key piece of equipment. KNOC provided information on the domestic clean ammonia receiving and storage infrastructure project it is promoting, as well as technical data.

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Vice President Jeon said, "Based on HD Hyundai Heavy Industries' differentiated FSRU technology accumulated over many years, we have developed the first Ammonia-FSRU in Korea," adding, "We will focus our capabilities on technology development to lead the Ammonia-FSRU market."

Head Ahn stated, "This development will be one of the key solutions to address challenges in the clean ammonia storage infrastructure sector," and added, "We will take the lead in building a carbon-neutral and clean energy ecosystem through continuous cooperation with HD Hyundai and Lloyd's Register."

Director Park said, "In a situation where the ammonia market is growing, developing an FSRU that can flexibly respond to operational environments is an important element of the industrial value chain," and added, "We believe this certification will greatly contribute to the ammonia business."

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