The project aims to produce one million tonnes of green ammonia annually
Worley, the Australia-based global engineering services company, will commence Front-End Engineering Design (FEED) work on a major green ammonia project in Morocco for the OCP Group in the third quarter of 2024, according to the company’s latest Annual Report.
In June 2023, Reuters reported that OCP, one of the world’s largest phosphate and fertilizer companies, plans to invest $7 billion in an ammonia plant utilizing green hydrogen in Tarfaya, southern Morocco.
Worley’s Annual Report, released on Tuesday, highlighted that the Tarfaya project is set to be the world’s first Power-to-X green ammonia program. The project will include a transmission grid, hydrogen and ammonia plants, storage facilities, and a temporary camp for 30,000 workers, with plans to eventually establish a city for the project’s workforce and their families. The entire operation will be powered by wind and solar energy.
“Delivery is being led by JESA, a joint venture between OCP Group and Worley, with Worley’s team executing the FEED. Work is scheduled to begin in September 2024 and, upon completion, will transition to engineering, procurement, and construction management (EPCM),” the report stated.
The project is expected to become operational in 2027, with an initial production capacity of one million tonnes of green ammonia per year. This capacity has the potential to increase to three million tonnes annually by 2032.
The Tarfaya green ammonia project is a key component of OCP Group’s green growth initiative, which involves a global investment of approximately $12 billion over the 2023-2027 period. The program focuses on expanding mining and fertilizer production capacities while aiming to achieve full carbon neutrality by 2040.
The June 2023 Reuters report also mentioned that the Tarfaya project would strengthen OCP’s domestic supply chain, as the company is one of the world’s largest ammonia importers.
The majority of the energy generated by the program will power 2-gigawatt capacity electrolyzers that will extract hydrogen from water. Additionally, 10 million cubic meters of water per year will be sourced from the sea through desalination plants.
The project includes a 2.8 GW wind farm, a 1 GW solar PV power plant, and 2.7 GWh of battery storage. The power generation and related facilities will cover an area of 100,000 hectares, while the industrial site will span 100 hectares.
JESA and Worley are also collaborating on the Jorf Hydrogen Project (JH2P), a multi-technology hydrogen facility designed to power an industrial-scale green ammonia plant with a production capacity of 100,000 tonnes per year, according to the Annual Report.
The JH2P project is being developed on a greenfield site adjacent to existing facilities built by JESA 15 years ago. Currently in the pre-FEED stage, FEED and detailed design work are expected to begin in November 2024. Upon completion, the project will progress to EPCM, with an anticipated completion date in 2026, the report noted.
