Green conversion at Gibson Island
Incitec Pivot Limited (IPL) is excited to partner with Fortescue Future Industries (FFI) to decarbonize ammonia production using green hydrogen generated from renewable energy sources such as wind and solar power.
IPL is an ASX100 company with two main business segments: the production of fertilisers for the agricultural sector and the manufacture of explosives for the resources sector. IPL runs an ammonia-production facility at Gibson Island. FFI, a wholly owned subsidiary of Fortescue Metals Group (Fortescue), is a global green energy and product company committed to producing zero-emission green hydrogen from 100 per cent renewable sources.
IPL Partners with FFI
As part of IPL's decarbonisation strategy and FFI's commitment to assist heavy industry decarbonize, IPL is teaming up with FFI to investigate green hydrogen and ammonia production at the Gibson Island industrial area in Brisbane. The proposed project involves building a new ~500MW hydrogen electrolysis facility to produce green hydrogen and upgrading IPL's current ammonia manufacturing facility to produce up to 400,000 tonnes of green ammonia a year using green hydrogen created onsite.
A Green Future for Gibson Island
IPL’s Gibson Island facility has recently stopped the traditional manufacturing of fertiliser. The focus now is paving the way for a world-first conversion of the Brisbane ammonia manufacturing and port facility to green, renewable ammonia production. FFI and IPL have carried out preliminary investigations into converting the Gibson Island facility from using natural gas to green hydrogen. FFI intends to build an on-site electrolysis plant next to IPL's existing plant to generate green hydrogen for the production of green ammonia.
If the project is successful, it could help secure manufacturing jobs in Queensland while also creating a new domestic and export market for green, renewable ammonia. Furthermore, the green hydrogen and green ammonia produced by the project could provide a low-carbon fuel supply to the Port of Brisbane, Brisbane Airport, and other heavy transport users.
Project Status
On 7 October 2022, IPL and FFI announced that they have agreed to proceed with the Front End Engineering Design phase of work required and executed a Framework Agreement between the two companies. IPL looks forward to working with FFI on this ground-breaking project.
The project is supported through funding from the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA ) as part of ARENA’s Advancing Renewables Program, recognising that the project will provide valuable learnings around producing renewable hydrogen at large-scale and the infrastructure adaptations required to facilitate the export of renewable ammonia. The views expressed herein are not necessarily the views of the Australian Government, and the Australian Government does not accept responsibility for any information or advice contained herein.
The Front-End Engineering Design is an essential phase in the development of the technical specifications and costing required to proceed to Final Investment Decision, targeted for 2023. IPL and FFI, together with ARENA, will work together closely during the Front-End Engineering Design phase.
For further information and to ask any questions please see the FFI project page here.
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