QatarEnergy plans expansion of ammonia facility

17 April 2025

Register for MEED’s 14-day trial access 

QatarEnergy is considering plans to expand its low-carbon ammonia and urea potential by building a new production complex in Qatar’s Mesaieed Industrial City.

The planned blue ammonia and urea production facility will have a total output capacity of 6.4 million tonnes a year (t/y), and is to be developed in two phases, sources have told MEED.

The Qatari state energy giant held a meeting with contractors in March to lay out plans for the project, which is to be known as QatarEnergy 8.

According to sources, QatarEnergy is now understood to be preparing tender documents and the scope of work for the project.

The planned expansion of its blue ammonia and urea production capability comes as QatarEnergy is making progress with its estimated $1.2bn Ammonia-7 project.

The under-construction facility in Mesaieed will have a capacity of 1.2 million t/y of blue ammonia, making it the world’s largest blue ammonia facility.

The complex will also have an additional unit for carbon dioxide injection and storage, with a capacity of 1.5 million t/y. QatarEnergy will provide the new plant with more than 35MW of electricity from the solar power plant that is also being built in Mesaieed Industrial City.

ALSO READ: QatarEnergy receives bids for new NGL train project

QatarEnergy began work on the blue ammonia production project in September 2022, when its subsidiaries Qatar Fertiliser Company (Qafco) and QatarEnergy Renewable Solutions signed an agreement to develop the complex.

In addition to signing the agreement for the development of the facility, the operators also formally awarded the project’s engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract to a consortium of Germany’s Thyssenkrupp Uhde and Greece/Lebanon-headquartered Consolidated Contractors Company (CCC).

The value of the EPC contract is $1bn, .

The facility is targeted to start operations in the first quarter of 2026 and will be operated by Qafco as part of its integrated facilities.

Last September, QatarEnergy announced its aim to build four new urea production lines at Mesaieed Industrial City, which will increase Qatar’s urea output capacity by 106%.

The production lines will raise Qatar’s production of urea – a key ingredient in fertilisers – from 6 million t/y to more than 12.4 million t/y.

Saad Sherida Al-Kaabi, Qatar’s Minister of State for Energy Affairs and president and CEO of QatarEnergy, said the first production line will enter operations before 2030.

“When we looked at the market for urea in the future, with the growth of humanity today, with 1.5 to 2 billion people that will be joining us in the next 20-30 years, the urea requirement for food production will be exponentially increasing,” Al-Kaabi said at the time.

“Developing this project in Mesaieed Industrial City will ensure the optimum utilisation of the excellent existing infrastructure for the petrochemicals and fertiliser industries, including the city’s export port, which is one of the largest fertiliser and petrochemicals export facilities in the [Middle East and North Africa] region.

“It will also establish Mesaieed as the urea production capital of the world,” he added.

https://image.digitalinsightresearch.in/uploads/NewsArticle/13713966/main2321.jpg
Indrajit Sen
Related Articles