Arab News

RIYADH: NEOM Green Hydrogen Co. has signed credit facility agreements with local, regional and international banks, along with the execution of a commitment letter with the Saudi Industrial Development Fund to build a green hydrogen-based ammonia production plant.  

To be located at $500-billion Giga-project NEOM, the plant will integrate up to 4 gigawatts of solar and wind energy to produce up to 1.2 million tons of green ammonia translating to up to 600 tons per day of carbon-free hydrogen, according to a press release.  

NGHC, an equal joint venture created by ACWA Power, Air Products and NEOM, said the development will be the world’s largest green hydrogen-based ammonia production plant when it comes into operation in 2026. 

It added that 100 percent of the green hydrogen produced will be available for global export, in the form of ammonia, through an exclusive long-term agreement with Air Products. 

NGHC CEO David R. Edmondson said the company has a clear mission to leverage the expertise and vision of its partners to accelerate the global green hydrogen economy in line with Vision 2030.  

“The recent convening of the investment community in Riyadh is an important step towards the milestone of achieving financial close in early 2023, to deliver the world’s largest facility to produce green hydrogen at scale. We are grateful for the significant support from our shareholders and the investment community to making that happen,” he said. 

The NGHC statement underlined that deal behind the development is structured with significant participation from SIDF and the National Infrastructure Fund. 

Global consultancy firm MEED, last month reported that NEOM is negotiating with entities to invest $20 billion to develop its planned brine chemicals complex in the industrial city OXAGON. 

Citing a close source familiar with the matter, MEED reported that the development will be built in phases and require somewhere between $15 billion to $20 billion in investments.   

According to the report, the chemicals complex aims to build industries and plants that convert brine, the main waste output of desalination, into industrial materials that can be used locally or exported internationally. 

NEOM’s water and energy subsidiary ENOWA said the brine generated from the desalination plant will be treated to feed industries utilizing high-purity industrial salt, bromine, boron, potassium, gypsum, magnesium and rare metal feedstocks, the report added. 

In September, ENOWA’s CEO Peter Terium, during an exclusive interview with Arab News on the sidelines of the Future Desalination International Conference held in Riyadh, said that NEOM will build a water desalination plant by 2024 to combat water scarcity. 

NEOM is Saudi Arabia’s most ambitious project, as the Kingdom eyes diversifying its economy in alignment with the goals outlined in Vision 2030. The construction of the project is progressing steadily in the Tabuk Province in north-western Saudi Arabia, and upon completion, it is expected to become one of the most popular tourist destinations in the Kingdom.