The Diplomat
Iberdrola will build the first green ammonia plant in southern Europe, which will be viable thanks to European funds and will involve an investment of 750 million euros, according to the company, which did not yet specify the country where it will be located.
The operation is part of the framework agreement signed by the energy company with Trammo, the world’s largest maritime trader and distributor of anhydrous ammonia, which is the largest green ammonia framework agreement in Europe to date for the sale and purchase of up to 100,000 tonnes of green ammonia per year from 2026, reports Europa Press.
Iberdrola is currently developing green ammonia and methanol plants in Europe, the United States, Australia and other countries, and this first plant is the first step in a global growth strategy for green hydrogen and its by-products.
The construction of the first green ammonia plant will generate up to 3,500 jobs, mostly filled by local workers. In addition, during its operation and maintenance phase, the project will create more than 50 jobs.
The green ammonia plant will be linked to the construction of 500 megawatts (MW) of new renewable energy, as the green ammonia will meet all European requirements.
Iberdrola explained that the plant will contribute to the creation of industrial and innovation opportunities in a growing market with a high export component.
The plant’s green ammonia production will be purchased and sold by Trammo to decarbonise various energy-intensive heavy industries across the continent, such as the Netherlands, Germany and France.
This project aims to launch the European green hydrogen corridor. Southern Europe has a large renewable potential that allows it to supply competitive green energy to decarbonise the hard-to-reduce, energy-intensive heavy industry of its European partners.
“When you bring together one of the world’s largest renewable energy developers and the world’s largest maritime trader of anhydrous ammonia, innovative projects like this can quickly become viable. For the past year, we have been operating Europe’s largest green hydrogen plant, which gives us the experience and understanding of the processes and technology to quickly scale up to these larger projects,” said Millán García-Tola, Iberdrola’s Global Head of Green Hydrogen.
“Reducing emissions from the green ammonia industry is a challenge for the coming years in which Iberdrola wants to get involved with real projects to develop a more sustainable production chain and achieve decarbonisation goals. We are already in talks with Trammo to look at similar projects in other markets,” García-Tola added.
Green ammonia can be used in the decarbonisation of existing applications, such as fertiliser production or chemical industries.
In addition, huge market growth is foreseen in new uses of this product, for example as a marine fuel or to make green hydrogen transport viable.
The latter use is essential for saving water, as green hydrogen reduces water consumption by more than 40% compared to a grey ammonia plant.
Iberdrola, with 40 gigawatts (GW) of renewable energy installed worldwide, has the ambition to double its current portfolio to 80 GW by 2030.
The company became a pioneer in green hydrogen production with three plants in operation by 2023 and Europe’s largest electrolyser (20 MW) at its Puertollano plant in Spain.
Iberdrola is developing more than 60 hydrogen projects in 8 countries, including green ammonia and green methanol in geographies such as Iberia, the United States and Australia.
As the world’s largest maritime trader with a leading global position in the marketing and distribution of anhydrous ammonia since 1965, Trammo plays an active role in the transition to decarbonise the industrial sector, helping to make significant volumes of green ammonia available on the market by 2035.
