Uniper and thyssenkrupp Uhde Join Forces for Key Technology of the Global Hydrogen Economy

thyssenkrupp Uhde and Uniper are entering into a strategic partnership to bring the large-scale ammonia cracker for global hydrogen trading to industrial maturity. In an ammonia cracker, ammonia is catalytically broken down into its components hydrogen and nitrogen at high temperatures and pure hydrogen is then produced in a purification process. In a first step, a demonstration plant with a capacity of 28 tons of ammonia per day will be built at Uniper's Gelsenkirchen-Scholven site. The plant will be one of the first of its kind in the world and will serve, among other things, as the basis for the planned hydrogen import terminal in Wilhelmshaven, where the technology is to be used on a large industrial scale in a second step.

The aim of the collaboration is to convert imported ammonia into hydrogen on an industrial scale and make it available for a wide range of industries such as energy, steel and chemicals. The cooperation marks an important step towards strengthening energy security and the sustainable transformation of energy-intensive industries. The use of ammonia as a transport and storage medium makes it possible to provide hydrogen from global production sites in large quantities at low cost - a prerequisite for the successful scale-up of the hydrogen economy.

"Uniper's position as a leader in the energy markets and an experienced plant operator, combined with our experience as a leading global supplier of ammonia technology and large-scale plants, provides a strong foundation for joint success. These competencies ensure that the cracking plant is optimized not only in terms of performance and efficiency, but also in terms of safety, long-term reliability and total life cycle costs. Our integrated approach will ensure that the plant will reliably deliver peak performance," said Nadja Håkansson, CEO of thyssenkrupp Uhde.

"Hydrogen is one of the key technologies for the future viability of our industry in North Rhine-Westphalia. We need energy and raw materials for our economy and prosperity more than any other federal state. With the help of ammonia cracking technology, we are opening up the possibility of sourcing green energy from numerous regions around the world. This will strengthen the resilience of our business location and show how sustainability and security of supply can work together," said Mona Neubaur, Minister for Economic Affairs, Industry, Climate Protection and Energy of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia.