Mundus Nordic Green News – 7 December, 2020

Yara sets ambition for full-scale green ammonia production in Porsgrunn, Norway

Today, Yara announced plans for full-scale green ammonia production at its Porsgrunn plant, with the opportunity to cut 800,000 tpa of GHG and contribute to the development of emission-free shipping and decarbonisation of food production.

 

Yara is one of the world’s leading fertilizer producers. The plans it presented at its ESG seminar today amounted to a major transformation of the company. Yara vision is to go far beyond a production shift to green-ammonia, replacing natural gas. Instead, it expands the definition of its core business as a leading "food solutions" company, enabling the hydrogen economy and driving sustainable value creation. 

 

To make the vision of zero-emission ammonia production possible, Yara is seeking partners and public support. If it gets the necessary support and framework, a pilot plant will be built in 2023, and the project will be fully operational in 2026. In doing so, it will eliminate one of Norway's largest point GHG emission sources. According to Yara’s CEO, Svein Tore Holsether, it will be difficult to implement the plans without a certain degree of public support. Making emission-free ammonia today is more than twice as expensive as the traditional gas method. “Here I will draw parallels to the solar industry and how it was developed if you go back 15-20 years.”

 

As one of several growth and improvement initiatives, Yara presents a change in its commercial business models, sales channels and solutions. The goal is revenue growth from new online services, performance-based models and digital carbon market services, with an ambition to add $300-600 million in new EBITDA by 2025, in addition to existing initiatives.

 

FREYR makes experienced Japanese hire for R&D manager for battery production in Norway

FREYR has hired Motoaki Nishijima as head of Research and Development to support environmentally friendly battery production in Mo i Rana, Norway. Nishjima is an expert on next-generation batteries, with over 30 years of R&D experience. He will lead FREYR's development of clean, low-cost battery cells. Prior to FREYR, Nishjima worked as Head of Next Generation Battery at the Japanese research institute KRI Co Ltd. and in Sharp Corporation. He will move to Norway to become part of the FREYR team, where he will formally establish the company's R&D organization in close collaboration with the research department for battery cells at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU).

 

Green Contact changes name to Mer

Grønn Kontakt, a subsidiary of Statkraft, has changed its name to Mer. The name change, which is the start of a joint, European charging group based on the experiences from the Norwegian electric car market, will be visible via rebranding at over 260 charging stations across countries. 

 

Statkraft's charging portfolio consists of companies in Norway, Sweden, Germany and the UK, and Mer will thus become a larger European charging group. Mer, has benefited from growth within Norway’s world-leading e-vehicle market with charging since 2009. The company claims that this has been a unique opportunity to learn how to create a profitable charging network, particularly the importance of good user experiences.

 

---