JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – Hive Hydrogen South Africa on Tuesday, September 15, awarded the front-end engineering design (FEED) contract for South Africa’s pioneering $5.8-billion green hydrogen ammonia project to Spanish company Técnicas Reunidas.

“The Técnicas Reunidas proposal was outstanding in all respects. Our aim remains to produce the lowest cost green ammonia globally,” said Hive Hydrogen chairperson Thulani Gcabashe, a former Eskom CEO and Standard Bank chair.

In its final stage of development, the Hive Hydrogen project is viewed as South Africa’s lighthouse green hydrogen project as well as being the flagship green hydrogen project for the EU’s Global Gateway programme in South Africa.

Under development is a renewable hydrogen and green ammonia production facility capable of producing a million tonnes a year of green ammonia for supply to international and domestic markets.

The projects own grid-connected large-scale wind and solar PV renewable energy plants totalling 2 930 MW, will power the green hydrogen and green ammonia production facility in Gqeberha.

Multi-faceted, the initiative is seen as being on the way to creating more than 20 000 employment opportunities.

The $9-million FEED contract is due to commence in Nelson Mandela Bay next month.

Técnicas Reunidas track and services commercial director Gonzalo Pardo said his company was looking forward to delivering a successful FEED and contributing to Coega’s role as a benchmark for Africa’s sustainable industrial growth.”

The contract has been awarded amid the Coega green ammonia project being viewed as having the potential to establish the Eastern Cape as a global export hub for green hydrogen and green ammonia, while supporting industrial development, skills creation, local supply chains, employment and South Africa's transition towards a lower-carbon economy.

The strategic Coega location provides access to the deep-water Port of Ngqura and South Africa's exceptional renewable-energy resources provide a platform for the production and export of competitively priced green ammonia to emerging international markets.

The renewable-energy generation and associated upstream electrical infrastructure required to supply the project form a separate workstream and are not included in this FEED award, which is related specifically to the project’s molecule production portion of the green hydrogen and green ammonia production facility, as well as the associated process infrastructure.

A separate request for proposal will be sent to shortlisted special engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) entities.

Técnicas Reunidas was reportedly selected following “a comprehensive competitive procurement, technical and commercial evaluation process” and is said to bring extensive international experience in the delivery of large-scale energy, hydrogen, and ammonia process facilities.

A key feature of Hive Hydrogen South Africa's project execution strategy is for the successful ammonia production plant FEED contractor to roll over from FEED into the full EPC phase for the green ammonia production portion, subject to the successful completion of FEED, achievement of the required technical and commercial outcomes, project approvals, financing and final investment decision (FID).

The EPC scope associated with the ammonia production plant is estimated at $1.8-billion, Hive stated in its media release to Mining Weekly.

This FEED-to-EPC strategy is intended to maintain continuity between engineering and project execution, retain the knowledge developed during FEED reducing interface transition risk, improve schedule certainty and provide a clear pathway towards construction and commissioning.

This FEED programme will further develop the engineering definition to establish the technical, cost, schedule, execution and performance basis required to progress to FID and full implementation.

The green ammonia production plant FEED will focus on the integration of the project's green hydrogen production facilities, nitrogen production, ammonia synthesis, process utilities, storage, export facilities and associated balance-of-plant infrastructure at the Coega site.

The commencement of FEED allows Hive Hydrogen South Africa and Técnicas Reunidas to work closely with technology providers, infrastructure partners, government stakeholders, financiers, export credit agencies and prospective offtakers as the molecule portion progresses towards implementation.

Hive Hydrogen South Africa is backed by Hive Energy of the UK and Gcabashe’s Built Africa and has been working since September 2019 on establishing a large-scale green ammonia plant in South Africa powered by renewable energy.