Hive Hydrogen South Africa (HHSA) has awarded Técnicas Reunidas S.A. (TR; Madrid, Spain) the design engineering services, through a FEED (front-end engineering design) contract, for a large green hydrogen and ammonia production plant. The facility, which will produce about one million metric tons of green ammonia annually for supply to domestic and international markets, is being developed in the Coega Special Economic Zone, adjacent to the Port of Ngqura, in Nelson Mandela Bay (Eastern Cape Province, South Africa).
HHSA has announced this contract award during the Africa Green Hydrogen Summit, which opened today in Cape Town (South Africa). In a press release, the company noted that Técnicas Reunidas was selected to carry out this project “after a long and in-depth period of World Leading EPC proposal evaluations”, which took into account that the Spanish company “brings extensive international experience in the engineering and delivery of large-scale energy, hydrogen, ammonia and complex industrial process facilities.”.
The South African company also emphasized that “a key feature of Hive Hydrogen South Africa’s project execution strategy is the intention for the successful Ammonia Production Plant FEED contractor to roll over from FEED into the full Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC) phase for the green ammonia production plant, subject to the successful completion of FEED, achievement of the required technical and commercial outcomes, project approvals, financing and Final Investment Decision”.
According to HHSA, the projected investment for the green ammonia production plant would reach $1.8 billion. The scope of work that Técnicas Reunidas will carry out under the FEED contract includes hydrogen production electrolyzers, air separation units, and the green ammonia production loop; a desalination plant; storage systems with a capacity of over 100,000 metric tons; pipelines to the port of Ngqura; and auxiliary facilities. This contract award is fully aligned with the strong growth in service contracts that Técnicas Reunidas is driving as part of its SALTA Strategic Plan. Gonzalo Pardo, commercial director of Track&Services at Técnicas Reunidas, stated that “we are delighted to have been selected by Hive for this world-leading decarbonization project. Leveraging our deep technology expertise and end-to-end EPC vision, we look forward to delivering a successful FEED and contributing to Coega’s role as a benchmark for Africa’s sustainable industrial growth. Furthermore, this award is perfectly aligned with the strong focus on services projects that Técnicas Reunidas is currently implementing as part of its SALTA Strategic Plan.”
In turn, John Nutt, Hive’s technical director, added that “Técnicas Reunidas proposal was outstanding in all respects. We are looking forward to them adding significant value and improving further on the tremendous work that has already gone into the development of the ammonia production plant to date that will make it the most efficient, large scale green hydrogen and green ammonia project. Our aim remains to produce the lowest cost Green Ammonia globally.”