• This award to Stamicarbon, NextChem Holding's nitrogen technology licensor, represents a strategic milestone for a new generation of green fertilizers solutions

Milan, 15 May 2023 – MAIRES.p.A. announces that its subsidiary NextChem Holding, through Stamicarbon, part of the Sustainable Technology Solutions business unit, has been awarded licensing and basic engineering design contracts for a 450 metric tons per day green ammonia plant by a prominent North American fertilizer producer.

The plant, to be built in the United States, will produce green ammonia to be used as feedstock for nitrogen-based fertilizers and will be based on the state-of-the-art Stami Green Ammoniatechnology. It is expected to start operations in 2026.

Stami Green Ammonia, the main building block for green fertilizers, enables environmentally friendly ammonia production from nature’s elements by using water electrolysis to make hydrogen and obtaining nitrogen from the air instead of the steam reforming of fossil fuels. The combination of proprietary technology and engineering requirements to build small-scale green ammonia plants offered by Stamicarbon, NextChem Holding's nitrogen technology licensor, represents a sustainable and highly competitive alternative to the conventional processes. This proven technology can also be applied in existing plants, as part of a hybrid technology solution to make existing fertilizer production more sustainable.

Alessandro Bernini, Chief Executive Officer of MAIRE, commented: “The global demand for ammonia will continue to grow, requiring efficient and environmentally friendly production methods to effectively reduce the carbon footprint. Stami Green Ammonia technology, using renewable energy instead of fossil fuels, represents an important step forward in achieving the fertilizer industry’s goals of sustainable, carbon-free solutions. This important milestone further confirms MAIRE’s role as a leading technology integrator and enabler of the energy transition globally.”

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About Green Ammonia

A traditional ammonia plant converts fossil fuel and steam into so-called syngas, a gas consisting of hydrogen and carbon monoxide, through a method known as ‘steam reforming’. Hydrogen is one of the two components from which ammonia is produced, Nitrogen being the other one, which is the dominant component in the air that is taken into the plant (with or without pre-treatment). Ammonia is synthesized from hydrogen and nitrogen. The carbon monoxide is converted to carbon dioxide and, if not used for urea production, is often emitted into the atmosphere, as a greenhouse gas, contributing to global warming. The presence of carbon as a result of using fossil fuels makes the ammonia produced in this way often referred to as “grey” ammonia. By eliminating the use of fossil fuels, an environmentally friendly process is created in which hydrogen is made via water electrolysis instead of the steam reforming of fossil fuels. The energy needed comes from renewable, sustainable resources, such as wind or solar energy. The output is carbon-free ammonia, also known as Green Ammonia, the primary feedstock for green fertilizers. Green Ammonia can also be used as a renewable energy carrier (e.g. in shipping fuel) or as a renewable feedstock for other processes. The Stami Green Ammoniatechnology offers a total solution for carbon-free and sustainable ammonia production.