Green hydrogen and ammonia developer Atome Energy has launched a joint venture with a focus on project opportunities in Central America and the Caribbean.
Atome has entered into a joint venture with Cavendish, the renewable energy arm of Grupo Purdy, one of the largest corporations in Costa Rica.
The new company, National Ammonia Corporation (NAC) is equally owned by both parties.
Headquartered in San Jose, the capital of Costa Rica, NAC will develop projects across Central America and the Caribbean with its initial focus in Costa Rica.
The country has a 99% penetration of renewable electricity and a strong agriculture sector which is one of the highest fertiliser consumers per hectare on the planet.
Cavendish, led by its CEO Silvio Heimann, is a participant in the embryonic green hydrogen market in Costa Rica, with “complementary aims and objectives” to Atome.
Atome is developing green hydrogen and ammonia projects in countries with high levels of renewables penetration combined with access to both domestic and international end markets.
Costa Rica’s position with ports on both the Atlantic and Pacific only separated by 200km of land make the country a “logistically excellent” location, said Atome.
Through NAC, Atome aims to capitalise on its capability to roll out its large-scale hydrogen and ammonia production model now being implemented in Paraguay.
Discussions are already taking place with relevant stakeholders in the areas of focus for NAC.
Olivier Mussat, CEO of Atome, said: “With the Villeta Project in Paraguay, we have taken a significant industry lead that we are able to roll out and replicate under the right conditions.
“Our partnership with Cavendish, a company established by the founders and owners of Grupo Purdy, offers Atome a very attractive opportunity with a strong local partner to accelerate the development of a pipeline of international scale projects with strong local demand for green fertilisers.”