State Power Investment Corporation has shipped 3,750 tonnes of wind- and solar-powered green ammonia from Lianyungang to South Korea, China’s largest single export of the zero-carbon fuel to date, CGTN reported.
China has shipped 3,750 tonnes of green ammonia from Lianyungang Port in Jiangsu province to South Korea, its largest single export of the fuel to date. The cargo, produced by State Power Investment Corporation (SPIC), was made using wind and solar power.
SPIC said the shipment is the first time Chinese green fuel has gained international market recognition based on its full lifecycle carbon reduction. Green ammonia is made by splitting water with renewable electricity to produce hydrogen, then combining it with nitrogen. The process cuts carbon sharply against conventional ammonia, which relies on fossil-derived hydrogen and accounts for a large slice of chemical-sector emissions.
Ammonia is a feedstock for fertiliser and a carrier for hydrogen, and shipping lines are testing it as a low-carbon marine fuel. A cross-border commercial cargo shows the supply chain moving from demonstration to trade. South Korea, a large ammonia importer, is building demand as it plans to co-fire ammonia in power generation and decarbonise heavy industry.
The delivery marks what SPIC describes as an upgrade of China’s wind-solar-hydrogen-ammonia industrial chain, from technical demonstration to large-scale international commercial delivery. China has built out renewable generation faster than any other country, which gives it cheap power to make green hydrogen and its derivatives at scale.
Green ammonia still costs more than the fossil-based product, and buyers need lifecycle certification to justify the premium. Recognition of this cargo’s carbon credentials is a step towards the traded, verified market that industrial buyers require. The volume is small against global ammonia trade of around 20 million tonnes a year, but the export route is now open.
For fertiliser makers, shippers and power utilities weighing low-carbon fuels, the shipment signals that verified green ammonia can cross borders on commercial terms. Whether it scales depends on cost, certification and firm offtake from importers such as South Korea and Japan.
