NEWS: THE AMERICAS

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Atome Energy Establishes Joint Venture With Cavendish In Central America

Atome Energy and Cavendish, the renewable energy arm of Grupo Purdy, have established a new joint venture enterprise: National Ammonia Corporation (NAC). The new company is owned equally and headquartered in San Jose, Costa Rica, with a mandate to develop green ammonia and fertiliser projects across central America and the Caribbean with its initial focus in Costa Rica.

The aims of NAC align with Atome which is focused on countries with renewable power resources and capabilities

Through NAC, Atome aims to capitalise on its capability to roll out its large-scale hydrogen and ammonia production model, already being implemented in Paraguay.

Olivier Mussat, CEO of Atome, says: ‘We are excited for the potential of NAC. The establishment of NAC shows the clear intent of Atome to deploy its innovative business model and know-how in other geographies.’

Silvio Heimann, CEO of Cavendish, comments: ‘We are energised to join efforts with Atome to deliver innovative solutions to the domestic and regional markets, as this combination of international expertise provided by Atome´s team fits perfectly well with our ability to execute locally.’

Exxonmobil Announces Next Step In Feed Facility

ExxonMobil has announced the next step in the development of the world’s largest low-carbon hydrogen production facility with a contract award for front-end engineering and design (FEED).

ExxonMobil’s Baytown, Texas, US, lowcarbon hydrogen, ammonia and carbon capture facility is expected to produce 1 billion cubic feet of low-carbon hydrogen per day, making it the largest low-carbon hydrogen project in the world at planned startup in 2027-2028.

ExxonMobil has awarded the contract to Technip Energies who will be responsible for the next stage of front-end engineering and design of the low-carbon hydrogen project.

Technip Energies Signs Two Mous To Accelerate Energy Transition In Canada

Technip Energies has signed two separate MoUs: one with PCL Industrial Management, and another with Capital Engineering, to work on energy transition markets in Canada.

Technip Energies will provide conceptual, front-end and detailed engineering, procurement, and technical capabilities with PCL leading constructability solutions, logistics evaluations, direct hire construction performance and execution solutions associated with hydrogen, ammonia, carbon capture, liquefaction, sustainable chemistry, and decarbonisation solutions developments throughout Canada.

Technip Energies and Capital Engineering will work together to provide frontend engineering and design (FEED), and engineering, procurement and construction management (EPCM) services.

There will be a clear focus on the ongoing energy transition and the companies will investigate opportunities involving industrial projects in areas such as carbon capture, hydrogen developments, sustainable fuels, and overall energy transition developments.

Chris Pullen, vice president and general manager for PCL Industrial Management says: ‘PCL has a longstanding relationship with Technip Energies. The complementary capabilities of our organisations mean we can offer Canadian clients solid EPC solutions. We match Technip Energies’ well-established expertise in engineering and technology with our own strong history of delivering industry-leading planning, project management, and execution to energy transition projects.’

Scott Martin, senior partner with Capital Engineering adds: ‘Capital is very excited to be jointly pursuing Canadian energy transition projects with Technip Energies. The combination of Technip Energies’ global expertise with Capital’s proven industry track record, knowledge of local requirements and Canadian project execution strategies provides a compelling offering to clients in this space.’

Imtt Announces Sale Of Louisiana Terminal

Storage provider and handler of bulk liquid products, IMTT has announced that it has closed on the sale of the company’s bulk liquids storage terminal located in Gretna, Louisiana, US to provider of bulk liquid storage, BWC Terminals LLC. The Gretna terminal is located on the Mississippi River and has approximately 2.3 million barrels of storage capacity, with truck, rail, and deep-water marine access.

Carlin Conner, chairman and CEO of IMTT says: ‘BWC was uniquely positioned to execute on this transaction due to the adjacent location of their Harvey terminal. Divesting a terminal that we have owned and operated for 32 years was a difficult decision. BWC’s commitment to continuing to operate Gretna with the current team in place, and in a safe, environmentally responsible, and efficient manner was a major factor in our decision.’

He continues: ‘With the reinvestment of proceeds from this transaction and the execution of contracted renewable fuel and chemical-related infrastructure projects that are in progress, over half of the company’s revenue in 2023 will be generated from the handling of non-petroleum products, such as renewable diesel feedstocks, renewable diesel, vegetable and tropical oils, and chemicals.’ intensity of its products for downstream customers along the value chain, resulting in carbon footprint reductions across a wide range of industries.

US-based IMTT will continue to own and operate its 16 other terminals across North America.

Nassef Sawiris, executive chair of OCI N.V. says: ‘We are delighted that OCI is expanding its already significant presence in south east Texas, a region which, as a clean energy leader and with its strategic location, plays a key role in the growing low-to-zero carbon hydrogen industry and is one of the best places globally to invest in this area. We look forward to continuing our partnerships with Jefferson County, the City of Beaumont, Beaumont ISD, the special districts, and the State of Texas.’

Brazil Shifts Focus To Clean Energy

Brazil’s state-controlled oil giant, Petrobras, is to transform into a renewable energy powerhouse, under the guidance of new CEO, Jean Paul Prates, as appointed by President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva. Prates is a senator for Lula’s Workers’ Party and was a point person on Lula’s energy team during the presidential campaign last year.

The aim behind appointing Prates is to stem the record dividends that Petrobras investors have been reported to enjoy, and instead focus on the production of renewables. Lula hopes that within the next 30 years, Brazil will be investing as much money in clean energy as it does in fossil fuels.

Lula is also expected to revamp local content rules on the percentage of goods and services for oil projects that need to be sourced from Brazil in order to boost domestic employment.

Texas, USA Nevada, USA

OCI N.V. BEGIN WORK ON BLUE AMMONIA SITE

Producer and distributor of hydrogen products, OCI N.V. has started the construction on the largest blue ammonia facility in Texas, US.

This puts the project on track for production to begin as scheduled in 2025. The project also received its air permit from the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) on 1 December 2022. OCI will upgrade blue hydrogen to produce blue ammonia, where over 95% of carbon emissions will be captured and sequestered. This allows OCI to materially reduce the carbon

Fulcrum Successfully Produces Synthetic Crude Oil

Clean energy company, Fulcrum BioEnergy, has announced that it has successfully produced a low-carbon synthetic crude oil using landfill waste as a feedstock at its Sierra BioFuels Plant in Nevada, US. This is the world’s first commercial-scale landfill waste-to-fuels plant.

This achievement places Fulcrum as a renewable fuels leader, producing and selling net-zero carbon fuel. The synthetic fuel will help support the aviation industry’s goals to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Eric Pryor, Fulcrum’s president and CEO says: ‘This accomplishment is a watershed moment for Fulcrum and opens the door for our plans to transform landfill waste around the world into a low-carbon transportation fuel in a way that will have a profound environmental impact…As we continue to work to address global environmental challenges and advance our development program, we aim to replicate our success at Sierra with costefficient net-zero carbon plants nationally and ultimately around the globe.’

In the future, Fulcrum expects to have capacity to produce approximately 400 million gallons of net-zero carbon transportation fuel annually. Fulcrums development program includes the Centerpoint BioFuels Plant in Gary, Indiana, US, the Trinity Fuels Plant in the Texas Gulf Coast region, US and the NorthPoint project in the UK.

Bp Completes Purchase Of Archaea Energy

Energy giant, BP has announced it has completed its purchase of leading provider of renewable natural gas, Archaea Energy. This marks a milestone in the growth of BP’s strategic bioenergy business.

In October, BP announced it had agreed to acquire Archaea. This purchase expands BP’s presence in the US biogas industry, enhancing its ability to support customers’ decarbonisation goals and progressing its aim to reduce the average lifecycle carbon intensity of the energy products it sells.

Dave Lawler, chairman and president BP America says: ‘We see enormous opportunity to grow our bioenergy business by bringing Archaea fully into BP. The talent, expertise and passion of their team has let them achieve incredible growth so far, and we’re excited to support the next chapter in line with our strategy.’

Bioenergy is one of five strategic transition growth engines that BP intends to grow rapidly through this decade. BP expects investment into its transition growth businesses to reach more than 40% of its total annual capital expenditure by 2025, aiming to grow this to around 50% by 2030.

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