Australia’s NH3 Clean Energy, Pilbara Ports Authority, and Oceania Marine Energy plan to establish low-emission ammonia bunkering operations at the Port of Dampier by 2030.

The companies announced Tuesday a non-binding joint development agreement (JDA), which aims to support ammonia-powered bulk carriers exporting iron ore from the Pilbara region to Asia, Kallanish notes.

Under the agreement, Pilbara Ports will be responsible for controlling and managing the Port of Dampier, issuing bunkering licences, and ensuring safe operations. While NH3 will supply hydrogen-derived ammonia from its WAH2 project, privately owned Oceania will use bunker vessels to supply ammonia via ship-to-ship transfer.

NH3’s flagship WAH2 project in Maitland, Western Australia, is expected to start production in the second half of 2029. A preliminary front-end engineering and design (pre-FEED) was completed early this year, which confirmed an increase in phase 1 production capacity from 600,000 tonnes/year to 650,000 t/y.

Meanwhile, the JDA also outlines a coordinated plan for the WAH2 project and related port infrastructure to reach final investment decisions by late 2026, to facilitate ammonia bunkering in 2030. 

NH3’s chairman, Charles Whitfield, notes the agreement paves the way for Western Australia to become a “global leader” in maritime transport decarbonisation.

“The scale of the Pilbara-Asia maritime corridor creates a globally significant opportunity to reduce GHG [greenhouse gas] emissions and NH3 is extremely excited to join with Pilbara Ports Authority and Oceania with the aim of making this a reality,” the executive adds.

The companies estimate that 300 bulk carriers currently export iron ore from the Pilbara to Asia. 

Early this year, the International Maritime Organization (IMO) approved the draft amendments to the net-zero framework, setting two binding carbon intensity reduction targets for large vessels. The measures, aimed at making the sector net-zero by around 2050, could stimulate the uptake of cleaner shipping fuel such as green ammonia and methanol.