Toyota Tsusho signs deal for blue ammonia production in Egypt

Japan’s Toyota Tsusho Corp has signed on Tuesday an agreement with state-run Egyptian Petrochemicals Holding Company (ECHEM) and Egyptian Natural Gas Holding Company (EGAS) to conduct a joint study assessing future production of blue ammonia in Egypt.

The agreement was signed in the presence of Egyptian Oil Minister Tarek el-Molla and Kenichiro Matsubayashi; deputy chief of mission of Embassy of Japan in Cairo.

Magdy Galal, EGAS chairman; Saad Helal, ECHEM chairman; and Yoshihiro Inoue, operation officer at Toyota Tsusho Corp, have signed the agreement.

The agreement will see Toyota Tsusho, EGAS, and ECHEM conducting economic feasibility studies and assessing the best available opportunities in the oil and gas sector to implement projects related to extracting and storing carbon dioxide to produce blue ammonia using the latest Japanese technologies.

These studies shall be completed within 6 months so as to set preparations for carrying out the most optimal projects on the commercial and environmental levels.

What is Blue Ammonia?

Ammonia, a hydrogen-carrying chemical, used as a fertiliser but also in other applications like explosives, is one of several candidates as an effective future energy source along with hydrogen.

It is deemed green when produced from renewable electricity or blue when made with fossil fuel and a subsequent carbon capture and storage process (CCS).

Blue ammonia, also known as the low-carbon hydrogen is a low-carbon method of producing the chemical compound by using steam methane reformation. The hydrogen is first derived as a byproduct of carbon dioxide, which has been captured and stored. It is then combined with nitrogen in order to produce ammonia.