ExxonMobil has selected Australia-based Worley to provide engineering, procurement and construction services for a proposed hydrogen and ammonia production facility in Baytown, Texas, the engineer-contractor announced Dec. 16 .
The plant, which will be located near the energy giant’s Gulf Coast chemicals and refining complex, will have a production capacity of 1 billion cubic feet per day of blue hydrogen, made from natural gas using technology of carbon capture and storage, plus 1 million tons. of ammonia per year.
ExxonMobil says it expects the facility to be the largest of its kind in the world. Worley’s contract covers work for the enabling works, infrastructure and interconnections associated with the facility.
The companies did not share the value of the contract, but company chief executive Chris Ashton said in a statement that the project “significantly contributes to strengthening Worley’s backlog”.
ExxonMobil leaders recently told investors that the company is “working toward a final investment decision” next year. The project, which would still require regulatory approvals, could start operating as soon as 2029, the company said.
ExxonMobil claims the facility would be “virtually carbon-free” because 98 percent of the carbon dioxide produced by the facility, about 7 million metric tons per year, is expected to be captured and stored. The company says its carbon capture and storage system would also be available for third-party CO use2 broadcasters in the area.
Earlier this year, the energy giant announced a deal with Air Liquide to transport hydrogen from the Baytown location through the latter company’s pipeline network. Air Liquide will also build and operate four large modular air separation units to supply oxygen and nitrogen to the facility.
ExxonMobil also said in September it signed an agreement with Abu Dhabi that its national oil company ADNOC will acquire a 35% stake in the hydrogen and ammonia facility. ADNOC managing director and group chief executive Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber, who is also an emirate minister, said the investment, the value of which was not disclosed, “is an important step for [the firm] as we grow our portfolio of low-carbon energy sources.”
last year ExxonMobil announced the awarding of an engineering and front-end design contract for the project, to the French company Technip Energies.
