Amogy: Leveraging ammonia as a clean energy solution is key to industry’s decarbonization efforts

SAFETY4SEA: What is your company’s philosophy for the maritime industry and what are the top priorities on your agenda for the next five years?

Stone Zhang: Amogy believes in ammonia’s potential as a clean energy solution for hard-to-abate sectors like the maritime industry. With our mature, scalable, and efficient solutions, Amogy is committed to leveraging ammonia to achieve the global net zero goal by 2050 and contribute to a carbon-free society to sustain future generations. This is done with our patented ammonia ‘cracking’ technology, which converts liquid ammonia into its base elements of hydrogen and nitrogen, then funnels hydrogen into a fuel cell, generating high-performance power with zero carbon emissions. Over the next five years, Amogy is looking to be one of the leading drivers of the maritime industry’s energy transition. In July 2024, following our successful trials of the world’s first carbon-free, ammonia-powered drone, tractor, and semi-truck, we welcomed the world’s first carbon-free, ammonia-powered vessel to the water by hosting a traditional renaming ceremony. Now deemed the NH3 Kraken, the tugboat is set to complete its maiden voyage this summer. As the first customer of our ammonia-to-power solution, we will use the learnings from this project to bring our solution to the commercial level.

S4S: As we move forward, how do you feel the challenges of decarbonization will impact the maritime industry from your perspective?

St.Zh.: As we work towards the global net zero 2050 goal, Amogy foresees that there will be greater pressure on the industry to invest in more innovative technologies, with evolving regulations to incentivize early movers. To keep up with these demands, different alternative fuels need to be in the bunkering mix. Alternative fuels such as ammonia, methanol, biofuels, and more, must be developed and deployed in parallel for the maritime industry to gradually meet short-, medium- and long-term decarbonization targets. As the technologies for these alternative fuels progress, the necessary safety regulations will also need to keep up with their deployment. At Amogy, we have partnered with classification societies to seek safety approval for our technology and have collaborated with industry associations to promote ammonia bunkering.

S4S: What prompted Amogy and Mitsubishi Shipbuilding (MSB) to initiate a feasibility study on ammonia-powered maritime solutions? Can you provide an overview of the key findings?

St.Zh.: At Amogy, we believe that decarbonizing the maritime industry can’t be done alone; it needs the collaboration of different industry players who are invested in this journey. Across the value chain, everyone must collaborate to promote ammonia’s use as a fuel for global shipping. The study completed by Amogy and MSB confirmed the feasibility of two collaboration concept designs – a completed solution combining Amogy’s ammonia cracking technologies for ships and MSB’s Ammonia fuel supply and abatement system. In the case of smaller shortsea vessels, the ship will be powered by Amogy’s Powerpack; on a large seagoing vessel concept, a 2-stroke ammonia engine would provide the propulsion power with Amogy ammonia cracker providing the hydrogen as pilot fuel, while the Auxiliary power will be provided by Amogy’s Powerpack.   

S4S: How do you envision ammonia as a fuel contributing to the IMO’s target of net zero GHG emissions by 2050?

St.Zh.: As we work towards achieving IMO’s net zero GHG emissions target by 2050, there is room for all types of cleaner fuels to drive the industry’s transition forward. While different alternative fuels need to be included in the bunker fuel mix, ammonia’s share in the overall mix could rise to as high as over 40% by 2050. According to a 2023/2024 research forecast, ammonia could become the most common type of marine fuel in volumetric terms by 2050.  This positions ammonia as one of the key fuels, with its high energy density making it ideal for long-term storage. Furthermore, ammonia as a fuel has the potential for full well-to-wake decarbonization. The infrastructure is already in place, and it does not require very energy-intensive storage, handling and transportation. Ammonia can be used as a fuel in several ways. One method is to burn it in specialized marine engines alongside a pilot fuel such as diesel. Alternatively, ammonia can be sent through a reformer or cracker that decomposes ammonia into hydrogen and nitrogen molecules. The hydrogen molecules are fed into a fuel cell to provide electricity for propulsion or onboard power consumption. Amogy’s technology uses the ammonia-cracking approach to produce hydrogen on board.

S4S: What are the potential economic benefits for ship operators in switching to ammonia-powered ships?

St.Zh.: With ammonia more expensive than fossil fuels in absolute terms, costs continue to present a huge consideration in ramping up the ammonia supply. Fortunately, as more shipowners adopt ammonia-fuelled ships, the demand for the fuel uptake increases, enabling the fuel to reach cost parity with fossil fuels. At Amogy, we are pleased to witness this accelerated demand with ship operators across all segments, from small to big tankers. This collective increase in demand will help to drive the price point of ammonia-fuelled ships down.

S4S: What regulatory hurdles need to be addressed to facilitate the widespread adoption of ammonia as maritime fuel?

St.Zh.: While there is infrastructure for ammonia as cargo, there is currently very few ammonia bunkering infrastructures. However, these infrastructures can be easily built on top of the existing cargo handling infrastructure. This can be strengthened or encouraged with the development of more regulations to manage ammonia loading. We have seen this happen in the LNG as marine fuel case in the last 20 years. In APAC, Singapore is seeking a lead developer for an ammonia project on Jurong Island by early 2025. The Maritime & Port Authority of Singapore and the Energy Market Authority will review proposals for the country to build, own, and operate low or zero-carbon hydrogen and ammonia bunkering facilities on the island. The Port of Rotterdam, the largest bunkering port in Europe, has pilot projects for ammonia bunkering scheduled next year, and looking to commercialize ammonia bunkering in 2027. As more of such pilot projects are implemented globally, Amogy is optimistic that the building of ammonia bunkering infrastructures will be accelerated. Additionally, the high production costs of ammonia are posing a hurdle to the widespread adoption of ammonia as a maritime fuel. The demand for both blue and green ammonia needs to be increased to encourage uptake and for both fuels to reach cost parity with fossil fuels.   

S4S: How are safety concerns being managed, especially considering ammonia’s toxicity and handling requirements?

St.Zh.: Ammonia has been used as a fertilizer for over 100 years. While there are safety guidelines on the storage, handling, and combustion of ammonia in multiple ports, terminals and ships, these regulations are centred around onshore fuel combustion. However, we are confident that with the development of safe and reliable bunkering standards, effective response plans, effective response plans, and effective crew training, concerns over ammonia’s toxicity will dissipate over time. Amogy is working with classification societies, governments, and customers to equip seafarers with the necessary knowledge on handling ammonia fuel. In Singapore for example, alongside 21 other partners, we are collaborating with the Maritime & Port Authority to set up a Maritime Energy Training Facility (METF) to train maritime professionals with skills to operate ships powered by alternative fuel systems. The facility is anticipated to benefit around 10,000 maritime personnel by the 2030s. In fact, ammonia as a marine fuel might be a natural fit for an ammonia-carrying vessel. This is because ammonia can be used directly as a fuel, without the need for additional storage tanks or complex conversion processes. Vessels can also be designed to be dual-fuel powered – able to operate on both ammonia and conventional fuels for flexibility.

S4S: Do you have any new projects/plans that you would like to share with industry stakeholders?

St.Zh.: Amogy is nearing completion of our retrofit of the world’s first carbon-free, ammonia-powered vessel. The NH3 Kraken, originally built in 1957, will prove how ammonia can be safely used as a primary fuel either in new builds or in retrofitted vessels. Following the completion of its maiden voyage, we will move to the commercialization stage and deploy our ammonia-to-power solution on our customers’ vessels. Amogy hopes that the success of this project will urge more industry players to adopt ammonia and move towards decarbonization in a more unified manner. In June 2024 at Posidonia, Amogy received approval in principle (AiP) for two different vessel designs from Lloyd’s Register: The first AiP was to HD Hyundai Mipo Dockyard (HD HMD) and Korea Shipbuilding and Offshore Engineering (KSOE) for their fuel-cell powered feeder ship design, equipped with our ammonia-to-electrical power system designed to “crack” ammonia into hydrogen on board to be sent into a fuel cell. The second AiP was for an 88,000 cbm ammonia carrier design powered by our technology in partnership with Samsung Heavy Industries. Separately, the American Bureau of Shipping and Liberian Registry granted AiP to Hyundai Heavy Industries and Capital Gas Ship Managing for a very large ammonia carrier (VLAC) vessel design that features the integration of our system. The design is for a 93K CBM ammonia carrier with Amogy’s technology providing ~1400 kW of auxiliary power equivalent to a diesel generator. We also signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for joint development and certification of our system for our pilot project with Hanwha Ocean, a collaboration that also includes Hanwha Aerospace and the Korean Register. In July 2024, Amogy also entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Yanmar Holdings Co., Ltd. to integrate Amogy’s advanced ammonia-cracking technology into Yanmar’s hydrogen internal combustion engine (H2ICE) to provide low-cost hydrogen fuel. This integration strives to provide a comprehensive clean energy solution for decarbonizing marine power generation.

S4S: If you could change one thing across the industry from your perspective, what would it be and why?

St.Zh.: I’m thrilled to see the industry transitioning to the use of cleaner fuels at a much faster pace. Yet, this transformation needs to be accelerated in order to meet decarbonization goals. While known for its traditional approach, the maritime industry has had a history of embracing change – such as the energy transition from steam to coal – and has much potential in transitioning to cleaner energy. Even if the economic benefits are not realized now, the importance of being open to cleaner marine fuels will help the industry as a collective to innovate and advance technologies and encourage more maritime players to be the first movers driving decarbonization. Decarbonization needs to be the top priority today for vessels to run solely on clean fuels with zero greenhouse gas emissions, or even to be easily converted to vessels that can run on clean fuels.  In line with the above thoughts, I believe a broader carbon tax regime would help accelerate this transformation.   

S4S: What is your key message to industry stakeholders to foster a more sustainable future for shipping?

St.Zh.: Collaboration is critical for a more sustainable future for shipping. Tackling decarbonization is not an effort by a single individual or organization; it requires widespread collaboration, and sharing of resources, expertise, technology, and knowledge with fellow industry players equally invested in this decarbonization journey. We need to work together to achieve this global net zero by 2050 goal.  At Amogy, we believe the attainment of this goal is not in the distant future. We are committed to leveraging ammonia as a clean energy solution with our mature, scalable, and highly efficient solution for splitting ammonia that can be tailored across global hard-to-abate industries like maritime.

The views presented are only those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect those of SAFETY4SEA and are for information sharing and discussion purposes only.