US start-up Amogy has struck a deal to install an ammonia power system on a tank barge by the end of 2023.
The New York company is teaming up with tug and barge owner Southern Devall to install its technology on a vessel as part of a demonstration of its operational benefits and scalability.
“This first commercial maritime deployment of Amogy’s technology will expedite the company’s market entry,” Amogy said.
Southern Devall specialises in transporting bulk liquid chemicals and fertiliser products throughout the Mississippi River and Gulf Intracoastal Waterway System.
The group carries a significant portion of the ammonia trade. It delivers ammonia to terminals for export, and to agricultural and chemical customers along US inland waterways.
Amogy’s proprietary ammonia-to-power system converts ammonia into hydrogen for use in fuel cells or as a more energy-dense method of long-distance hydrogen transport.
The system has already been demonstrated in a farming tractor and aerial drone.
The start-up is now targeting larger applications, including ships and ammonia bunkering barges.
Amogy told TradeWinds ammonia will be used on board to power the reliquefaction system.
The power pack will be on the barge.
“We are using the ammonia that the barge is already carrying to power our system. There is an idea that if we have ‘excess’ power, we can send it to the boat to power the lights and other auxiliary items on the boat, but that is more of an optimisation,” a spokeswoman said.
The partnership will provide Amogy with access to a vast ammonia infrastructure as well as Southern Devall’s expertise in handling ammonia and maritime operations.
Work has already started and the retrofit is expected next year.
An Amogy powerpack will generate the power needed to reliquefy ammonia as it heats up over the course of a voyage.
500-kW powerpack
Amogy’s system has already passed initial safety reviews and received approval in principle in September from classification society Lloyd’s Register for a 500-kW powerpack design similar to what the team will look to deploy in the tank-barge project.
More retrofits of Southern Devall barges and tugs are then planned.
“Southern Devall shares Amogy’s passion for driving innovation, making them the perfect strategic partner to support our commercial entrance to the US maritime market,” said Seonghoon Woo, chief executive of Amogy.
“In collaboration with their team, we’ll have a first-mover advantage in this space through expanded access to the ammonia infrastructure and industry knowledge, setting us on track to demonstrate our platform’s operational capabilities in large maritime vessels.”
Older fleet ripe for green renewal
The US inland shipping sector is responsible for an estimated 6.2m tonnes of CO2 emissions each year.
Many operators rely on older, high-investment equipment, vessels and barges dating back to the 1960s. Southern Devall has more than 220 barges, 70 tugs and 700 seafarers.
In October, Amogy recruited experienced shipping executive Christian Berg as part of its push into the maritime sector.
Berg, who was formerly Norwegian producer Yara Clean Ammonia’s director of bunkering market development for Scandinavia, will head Amogy’s regional operations from Stavanger in Norway.
In September, Amogy struck a deal with trading and chartering giant Trafigura to investigate the potential for large-scale cracking of ammonia.
The aim is to boost the supply of clean hydrogen as a fuel, and Amogy’s technique will be assessed for the potential transport of the gas around the world.
That was the start-up’s second shipping-related deal in three weeks, after it joined forces with Norwegian ammonia shipping company Amon Maritime to work on creating competitive full-scale green transport solutions.
Amogy was founded in 2020 by four Massachusetts Institute of Technology alumni. Investors already include Amazon, SK Innovation and Saudi Aramco.
