August 9, 2023
By Julian Atchison
 

FertigHy: new low-carbon fertiliser consortium launched in EuropeAtlas Agro: Washington State

Founding investors EIT InnoEnergy, RIC Energy, Maire Tecnimont, Siemens Financial Services, InVivo and Heineken have launched FertigHy: a new consortium aiming to build and operate large-scale fertiliser projects to supply the EU agricultural sector. The first project will be developed in Spain, producing more than one million metric tonnes per year of low-carbon, nitrogen-based fertilisers from renewable electricity and electrolytic hydrogen. Construction of the facility (exact location TBC) will begin in 2025.

There has never been greater urgency to decarbonise and collectively regain our production of fertiliser. With a plethora of factors at play in Europe in 2023 the time to establish a greener and self-sufficient industry for all is now. FertigHy will rebuild resilience against disrupted supply chains, while promoting sovereignty for the agriculture industry and security of supply by accelerating the decarbonisation of the food value chain.

José Antonio de las Heras, CEO of FertigHy, in his organisation’s official press release, 28 June 2023
EIT InnoEnergy is an EU-backed body that founded the European Green Hydrogen Acceleration Center (EGHAC) in 2020. Aiming to accelerate the establishment of new, green industrial companies within the EU, EIT InnoEnergy is also one of the founding partners in GravitHy, the European renewable steel project. Part of Plug Power’s planned electrolysis capacity in Finland will feed steel production by GravitHy (as well as ammonia production). Maire Tecnimont will be the ammonia technology provider and EPC contractor for the new project in Spain.

The other partners in FertigHy bring important project development capabilities. Siemens Financial Services will assist with financing the project, and InViVo will act as a purchaser and distributor of fertilisers (their network extends to some 300,000 farmers that are part of over 200 EU agricultural cooperatives). Heineken – Europe’s largest brewer – is aiming to operate a net-zero value chain by 2040.

FertigHy’s ambitions are fully in line with the EU’s Fit-for-55 Package or the recent REPowerEU and Green Deal Industrial Plan and demonstrates our ability to enable Europe’s net-zero industry competitiveness. This investment is also a further signal of EIT InnoEnergy’s commitment to hard-to-abate industries and a marker of our continued success with EGHAC.

Jacob Ruiter, Managing Director of EGHAC in FertigHy’s official press release, 28 June 2023