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HyEx will invest close to US$50 million in this project to generate hydrogen from renewable energy for the Prillex de Mejillones plant. Enaex will thus reduce the import of ammonia manufactured from fossil fuels.
The initiative considers the construction of a water electrolysis system powered by renewable energy, with 26 MW of installed capacity to produce hydrogen, whose operation is expected to start in 2025. The green hydrogen obtained will be used by Enaex for the production of ammonia, a key element in the blasting process in mining and that will be used in its Prillex de Mejillones plant, in order to reduce the importation of ammonia manufactured from fossil fuels.
The plant will be located in the area where the Tamaya plant is located, approximately 24 kilometers from the city of Tocopilla in the Antofagasta Region. The projected facilities include the construction of an air separation plant and another for ammonia manufacturing.
The project will have an air separation plant for the generation and dispensing of an average of 2,004 kg/h of nitrogen to form synthesis gas (a mixture of nitrogen and hydrogen) and a reactor for an average production of 57 ton/day of ammonia. ; both units with their auxiliary and safety systems. It also contemplates an ammonia storage system capable of providing autonomy to the plant for 3 days without production (if required), and will be connected both to the production and to the truck dispensing system. The liquid ammonia produced will be transported through 25-ton capacity trucks to the Enaex plant in Mejillones.
Last August, Engie Latam and Enaex , a subsidiary company of the Sigdo Koppers group dedicated to the production of ammonium nitrate and explosives for mining, submitted to the Chilean Environmental Assessment Service (SEA) the Environmental Impact Statement for the project. green hydrogen production.
Once the pilot plan is successfully executed, the implementation of a large-scale project would also be considered in the Antofagasta Region, with a capacity of up to 2,000 MW of electrolysis, from which Enaex would increase its production of green ammonia, with an estimated date for 2030.
Enaex plans to reach an annual production of 18,000 tons of ammonia. |
