Giga-scale green hydrogen project announced in Arctic Norway using world’s first floating ammonia production vessel

Norwegian developer H2Carrier has applied for permission to build two massive offshore wind farms in the most northeastern part of Norway to produce green hydrogen and ammonia.

The intention is to build 1.55GW of wind power in total on the north coast of the Finnmark region that would be used to produce green hydrogen and ammonia on board a floating vessel designed by the company and moored at the site.

H2Carrier says its True North Green Ammonia project would produce 109,000 tonnes of green hydrogen a year at the site — suggesting an electrolyser size of about 1GW — and 610,000 tonnes of green ammonia.

That part of Norway — specifically the Varanger and Skjøtnigberg/Nordkyn peninsulas near the Russian border, well inside the Arctic Circle — has among the strongest onshore winds in the world, with average wind speeds of around 10-11 metres per second, according to the Global Wind Atlas.

The project would use the H2Carrier-designed P2XFloater, which the company describes as “the world’s first floating production unit for producing green ammonia at industrial scale”.

“Unlike other green ammonia production facility [sic], the P2XFloater does not require leasing or purchasing of land, storage tanks, pier construction or constructional and operational concessions,” the company explains on its website.

The vessel contains its own desalination unit, allowing sea water to be used in electrolysers that split H₂O into hydrogen and oxygen, and offers ship-to-ship transfer of liquid ammonia through hoses, essentially making it an export terminal too.

“P2XFloater™ is also flexible in its positioning, as it can be situated where renewable energy has the lowest cost. This allows the P2XFloater to utilize the lowest renewable power prices in the world, thus producing extremely cost competitive green ammonia.”

H2Carrier also points out that the project — which would be surrounded by small fishing villages and not much else — would have “a significant impact on local and regional value creation by way of employment opportunities, improved public revenues and will offer a range of opportunities to regionally based companies”.

Applications have been sent to the Norwegian Water Resources and Energy Directorate for approval, although it appears to be an early-stage project.

H2Carrier has previously announced plans for a similar green hydrogen and ammonia project in Greenland, using 1.5GW of onshore wind and the P2XFloater vessel, but the company has not revealed any updates on that project since it was first announced at the beginning of 2023.