Tsubame BHB delivers first commercial ammonia to Mitsubishi Gas Chemical

Tsubame BHB Co., Ltd. has commenced ammonia production and supply from its commercial-scale demonstration synthesis plant.

The facility is installed at energy developer INPEX’s integrated blue hydrogen and ammonia demonstration project in Kashiwazaki, Niigata Prefecture. Under the project, INPEX began supplying ammonia synthesised at the plant to chemical manufacturer Mitsubishi Gas Chemical, and is the first commercial-scale deployment where Tsubame BHB’s technology manufactures ammonia for supply to an external company.

While essential for global nitrogen fertiliser production and emerging as a zero-emission fuel for shipping and power generation, the process requires high-energy, centralised plants. Because production remains concentrated in a small number of export regions, importing countries face supply risks and price volatility, such as the global fertiliser price increases recorded since 2021.

Ammonia synthesis traditionally relies on the century-old Haber-Bosch process, reacting hydrogen and nitrogen at 400 to 500 degrees Celsius and 10 to 30 megapascals. Tsubame BHB synthesises ammonia at 300 to 400 degrees Celsius and 3 to 5 megapascals, lowering operating temperature by around 100 degrees Celsius and pressure to as low as one-tenth of conventional standards. The process uses an electride catalyst developed by Hideo Hosono, an honorary professor at the Institute of Science Tokyo, formerly Tokyo Institute of Technology. These milder operating conditions allow for compact, safer plant designs suited to on-site distributed production, enabling facilities to generate green or blue ammonia near end-users from local water, air and electricity.

The Kashiwazaki facility is one of two ammonia synthesis plants ordered from Tsubame BHB in Japan. The company is also conducting negotiations and entering into memorandums of understanding to secure plant orders in Brazil and India.