seeing green

Woodside to acquire clean ammonia project outside of Houston in  $2.4B deal

OCI broke ground on the project in 2022. Photo via oci-global.com

Woodside Energy has announced its acquiring a Beaumont, Texas, clean ammonia project that's slated to deliver its first ammonia by 2025 and lower carbon ammonia by 2026.

The agreement is for Woodside to acquire 100 percent of OCI Clean Ammonia Holding and its lower carbon ammonia project in Beaumont in an all-cash deal of approximately $2.35 billion. According to Woodside CEO Meg O’Neill, the acquisition positions Woodside as an early mover in clean ammonia within the energy transition.

“This transaction positions Woodside in the growing lower carbon ammonia market," O’Neill says in a news release. "The potential applications for lower carbon ammonia are in power generation, marine fuels and as an industrial feedstock, as it displaces higher-emitting fuels.

“Global ammonia demand is forecast to double by 2050, with lower carbon ammonia making up nearly two-thirds of total demand," she continues. “This Project exceeds our capital allocation framework targets for new energy projects. Both phases are expected to achieve an internal rate of return above 10 percent and payback of less than 10 years."

OCI broke ground on the project in 2022. It's reportedly the world’s first ammonia plant paired with auto thermal reforming with over 95 percent carbon dioxide capture.

Phase 1 of the project will have a capacity of 1.1 million tonnes per annum and is currently under construction. The first ammonia production will be derived from natural gas and is slated for 2025, with lower carbon ammonia production — derived from natural gas paired with carbon sequestration — is expected in in 2026 following commencement of CCS operations

According to the release, Phase 2 will have the capacity to abate 3.2 million tonnes per annum CO2-e, "or over 60 percent of our Scope 3 abatement target,” O’Neill explains.

Linde will source the nitrogen and lower carbon hydrogen feedstock from its feedstock facility, which is currently under construction with a targeted completion in early 2026. In the meantime, early supply of feedstock for the project will come from various suppliers including Linde. Per the release, CCS services will be provided to Linde by ExxonMobil and are expected to be available in 2026.

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A View From HETI

Ace Green Recycling has secured a deal that will supply 100 percent of its phase one recycling capacity at its forthcoming Texas flagship facility. Photo courtesy Ace Green Recycling.

Houston- and Singapore-headquartered Ace Green Recycling, a provider of sustainable battery recycling technology solutions, has secured a 15-year battery material supply agreement with Miami-based OM Commodities.

The global commodities trading firm will supply Ace with at least 30,000 metric tons of lead scrap annually, which the company expects to recycle at its planned flagship facility in Texas. Production is expected to commence in 2026.

"We believe that Ace's future Texas facility is poised to play a key role in addressing many of the current challenges in the lead industry in the U.S., while helping the country meet the growing domestic demand for valuable battery materials," Nishchay Chadha, CEO and co-founder of Ace, said in a news release. "This agreement with OM Commodities will provide us with enough supply to support our Texas facility during all of its current planned phases, enabling us to achieve optimal efficiencies as we deploy our solutions in the U.S. market. With OM Commodities being a U.S.-based leader in metals doing business across the Americas and Asia with a specialty in lead batteries, we look forward to leveraging their expertise in the space as we advance our scale-up efforts."

The feedstock will be sufficient to cover 100 percent of Ace's phase one recycling capacity at the Texas facility, according to the statement. The companies are also discussing future lithium battery recycling collaborations.

"Ace is a true pioneer when it comes to providing an environmentally friendly and economically superior solution to recycle valuable material from lead scrap," Yiannis Dumas, president of OM Commodities, added in the news release. "We look forward to supporting Ace with lead feedstock as they scale up their operations in Texas and helping create a more circular and sustainable battery materials supply chain in the U.S."

Additionally, ACE shared that it is expected to close a merger with Athena Technology Acquisition Corp. II (NYSE: ATEK) in the second half of 2025, after which Ace will become a publicly traded company on the Nasdaq Stock Market under the ticker symbol "AGXI."

"As we continue to scale our lead and lithium battery recycling technologies to help support the markets for both internal combustion engines and electric vehicles, we expect that our upcoming listing will be a key accelerator of growth for Ace,” Chada said.

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