Saudi Arabia's NEOM Green Hydrogen Company (NGHC) is investing a total of $8.4 billion in what it claims will be the world's largest green hydrogen plant. The plant is being built in Oxagon, one of the four regions of the new city of Neom. Furthermore, NGHC has signed the EPC contract for the implementation of the project with Air Products.
According to the company, 23 banks from all over the world and various investment companies are involved in the construction of the plant. This was announced by NGHC in a press release.
A joint venture between ACWA Power, Air Products and NEOM, NGHC's mega plant is expected to produce up to 4 GW of solar and wind energy. It would be capable of producing up to 600 tons of green hydrogen per day in the form of green ammonia by the end of 2026.
NGHC had already announced the construction in the summer of 2020. Originally, construction costs of US$7 billion were expected.
Construction "in full swing"
Seifi Ghasemi, chairman, president and CEO of Air Products, confirmed that work was already underway to complete the plant:
"Air Products is the exclusive customer and will take the entire production volume of green hydrogen produced in the form of green ammonia at the NGHC plant to serve the global mobility and industrial markets. [...]
As the primary contractor and system integrator for the plant, we are proud of the significant progress made on the design and have awarded all major subcontracts for the project. Site preparation is also complete, construction is well underway, and the joint venture team is ready and actively working to bring green energy to the world by the end of 2026."
Neom is part of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin-Salman's "Vision 2030." First mentioned in 2017, the planned city is to have a futuristic technology park including a luxury resort complex and is to be built in the northwest of the country, not far from the Egyptian border on the Red Sea.
Permanent purchase agreement with Air Products
NGHC had also signed an exclusive 30-year contract with Air Products for the purchase of all green hydrogen produced on site. Air Products, based in Allentown, Pennsylvania, plans to process the 600 tons per day into 1.2 million tons of ammonia per year.
Meanwhile, Air Products says it has awarded contracts to several technology and construction partners, including thyssenkrupp nucera. The Dortmund, Germany-based thyssenkrupp subsidiary is to provide an electrolyzer with a capacity of more than 2 GW.
David R. Edmondson, CEO of NGHC, called the announcement of the FID and EPC contract a "historic moment."
"Already, we are engaged in the construction of the world's largest large-scale green hydrogen production facility, which is expected to be operational by the end of 2026."
