ACE Terminal helps industry become more sustainable

As Europe moves towards future fuels and zero carbon targets in line with the European Green Deal, hydrogen will be a gamechanger. Committed to the climate targets, there is a growing demand for hydrogen in a wide range of industries to replace conventional carbon fuels as feedstock, fuel in hard-to-abate processes, and as a carbon-free fuel in transport, and as a carbon-free fuel in transport.

In the port of Rotterdam, the strategic partners Gasunie and Vopak joined forces and knowledge to develop a large scale open access import terminal for ammonia as a carrier for low-carbon and green hydrogen. The terminal facilitates the storage and transshipment of ammonia as a carrier for hydrogen produced in countries around the world. Through the cracking process, the ammonia can be converted back into hydrogen ready for use by customers.

There are several ways to transport hydrogen over sea. Using ammonia as a hydrogen carrier is gaining momentum. In this variant hydrogen and nitrogen are combined to form ammonia. When cooled to a low temperature (ca. -33 degrees) the gaseous ammonia becomes liquid, making it considerably denser, taking up less space and therefore easier to transport and store. Using ammonia as a hydrogen carrier is currently seen as a promising solution for long distance transport. An advantage of using ammonia as a hydrogen carrier is that ammonia technology, long-distance sea transport and market already exist.

The end goal is to 'crack' the ammonia and convert it back into hydrogen, which is then fed into the energy system via Gasunie's hydrogen network finding its way to end users in North-western Europe. Green ammonia may initially be of particular interest to markets that currently use grey ammonia, made with natural gas and used at the same site as a form of energy that releases CO₂, such as the fertiliser industry.

The partners have high ambitions: they want ACE Terminal to become Rotterdam's leading ammonia import terminal. Producers of hydrogen are all over the world, wherever there is an abundance of sun and/or wind and enough space for electrolyser units.

The Netherlands can generate a lot of green energy itself, but not enough. To meet the climate goals, we need to harvest energy from countries where there is an abundance of wind and sun. To provide sustainable energy and transport to places where there is insufficient supply, we need import facilities. And that is exactly what Gasunie and Vopak want to contribute with ACE Terminal.