Cepsa, Yara Clean Ammonia plan Algeciras-Rotterdam hydrogen corridor

Spanish oil major Cepsa and Yara Clean Ammonia, part of Norwegian ammonia and fertiliser company Yara International, have formed a strategic partnership to establish the first green hydrogen maritime corridor between the ports of Algeciras and Rotterdam, it was announced Wednesday.

The partnership, aimed at decarbonising European industry and maritime transport, was signed in the presence of the kings of Spain and the Netherlands, Felipe VI and Willem-Alexander.

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As a result of the alliance, Yara Clean Ammonia becomes the latest partner of the Andalusian Green Hydrogen Valley. As part of this initiative, Cepsa plans to construct a green ammonia plant at its energy park in San Roque, Cadiz, near the port of Algeciras. The EUR-1-billion (USD 1.1bn) green ammonia project will be the largest in Europe with an annual production capacity of up to 750,000 tonnes, the Spanish company says.

The partnership also calls for Yara Clean Ammonia to supply Cepsa with green ammonia volumes, enabling the energy company to get a head start in serving industrial and marine customers in Rotterdam and Central Europe.

Cepsa in addition inked an agreement with Dutch natural gas infrastructure company Gasunie for access to its green hydrogen transport network in the Netherlands. The network will link the Port of Rotterdam with other European industrial clusters in Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium as part of the Delta Corridor project.

The partnership follows a similar deal for a Spanish-Dutch green hydrogen maritime corridor announced by Iberdrola on Tuesday.

(EUR 1.0 = USD 1.079)