Irish outfit Phelan Green Energy has announced it will invest more than $2bn in Peru to develop a large-scale green ammonia production facility.
The company led by chairman Paschal Phelan (pictured second left) agreed the detail of the US$2.4bn project at a special, two hour meeting, with Peruvian Prime Minister Gustavo Adrianzén (pictured middle with Minister of Defense of Peru Walter Astudillo Chávez, Arequipa Regional Governor Rohel Sánchez Sánchez and Minister of Transport and Communications Peru Rául Pérez-Reyes) and his cabinet at the Presidencia del Consejo de Ministros del Peru in Lima.
The Peruvian government has approved the concession of 4000 hectares in the Arequipa region and this strategic location will be pivotal in harnessing low cost solar energy for the production of green hydrogen and ammonia.
Additionally, a 50-hectare concession has been granted for the establishment of a processing plant in the coastal port of Matarani. This agreement comes after the Regional State Council of Peru, recently approved the Phelan project as a ‘Necesidad Publica’, providing a range or priorities to accelerate the Project.
Phelan Green Energy has been developing major green hydrogen hubs in five international locations. Phelan also announced that these will now be consolidated into two locations with the discontinuation of hydrogen projects in Chile, Egypt, and Spain, redirecting resources to enhance production capabilities in Arequipa, Peru and Saldanha, South Africa, both regions with world class solar irradiation.
These facilities are set to produce 440,000 tons of green ammonia annually, with new plans to scale up production to 1m tons in each location.
This expansion underscores Phelan Green Energy’s commitment to leading the global green hydrogen and ammonia market, said the developer.
Phelan said “Our goal is to produce the lowest-cost green energy in the world, ensuring a sustainable and economically viable supply to key markets in the EU, Japan, and Peru.
“This investment marks a significant step towards achieving our goal to be a leading global supplier, for the inevitable huge demand for decarbonized energy, as responsible energy users recognise, the vital necessity, to convert to renewable energy, to address the climate crisis, that is now visible on daily on TV”.
At a press briefing after the cabinet meeting, Phelan urged global governments to “get serious” about climate change, with “harsher carbon taxes and implementation”.
He added: “The climate problem is running away from us, and unless we implement urgent action now, we will be forced to deploy dramatic action of pandemic proportions, as the public, in impacted locations have furious reactions.”