Two vie for Singapore ammonia deal

The Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) and the Energy Market Authority (EMA) have shortlisted two groups, headed up by Keppel’s Infrastructure Division and Sembcorp-SLNG, to go through to the next round of proposal evaluation.

The two contenders were selected from a total of six that were shortlisted last year.

The bids were assessed based on the technical, safety and commercial aspects of their proposal and the two now have the green light to begin their engineering, safety and emergency response studies for the proposed project.

At the next phase, to be announced by Q1 2025, MPA and EMA will choose one of the two bidders as the lead developer, who will be responsible for developing the end-to-end solution to:

generate 55 to 65 MW of electricity from imported low- or zero-carbon ammonia via direct combustion in a combined cycle gas turbine

facilitate ammonia bunkering at a capacity of at least 0.1 million tonnes per annum, starting with shore-to-ship bunkering followed by ship-to-ship bunkering

The project is part of Singapore’s National Hydrogen Strategy launched in 2022, which outlines Singapore’s approach to develop low-carbon hydrogen as part of the nation’s commitment to achieve net zero by 2050.

If successful, the project will position Singapore as one of the first countries in the world to deploy a direct ammonia combustion power plant and support the development of ammonia bunkering for international shipping.