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Fertiglobe expects Rabdan final investment decision in 2026

26 May 2025

UAE-based fertiliser producer Fertiglobe expects to reach a final investment decision (FID) on its project to establish a new low-carbon hydrogen and ammonia production facility in Abu Dhabi in early 2026.

The planned Rabdan complex will use natural gas provided by Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (Adnoc), Fertiglobe’s parent company and majority shareholder, to produce up to 1 million tonnes a year (t/y) of low-carbon liquid ammonia, also known as blue ammonia.

The Rabdan facility, which will be built in Ruwais, will also have the capacity to produce 192,000 t/y of blue hydrogen and 892,000 t/y of nitrogen, to supply to a local offtaker.

Fertiglobe’s CEO, Ahmed El-Hoshy, said that the front-end engineering and design to engineering, procurement and construction (feed-to-EPC) competition process started later than expected, but that "this process has caught up", allowing for an FID decision in early 2026.

“The ultimate FID decision on Rabdan is dependent on having a competitive capex (capital expenditure) and [operational expenditure] profile and spoken-for offtake agreements. We are also monitoring regulatory developments,” he told MEED.

MEED reported in March that Adnoc was initiating a feed-to-EPC competition to deliver the Rabdan project. The model involves the project operator selecting contractors to execute the feed work and then choosing the contractor with the most competitive feed proposal to execute EPC works on the project, while also compensating the other contestants for their work.

The following contractors are understood to have submitted bids with Adnoc for the feed-to-EPC contest for the Rabdan project by the deadline of 8 March:

  • GS Engineering & Construction (South Korea)
  • Hyundai Engineering & Construction (South Korea)
  • Larsen & Toubro Energy Hydrocarbon (India)
  • Linde (Germany)
  • McDermott (US)
  • Saipem (Italy)
  • Samsung E&A (South Korea)
  • Technip Energies (France)
  • Tecnimont (Italy)

MEED has learnt from industry sources that Larsen & Toubro Energy Hydrocarbon, Linde and Technip Energies are in contention to be shortlisted by Adnoc to participate in the feed-to-EPC competition for the project.

“We haven’t provided a timeline on shortlisting contractors. Our selection will depend on contractors with the best estimates and experience in building similar projects, keeping in mind our attention to efficiency, technology and sustainability,” El-Hoshy said.

“Progress has been made on the offtake side,” he noted. Alongside the firm's Asian partners, the company has applied to the Japanese Contracts for Difference programme, which is currently under evaluation by the Japanese Economy, Trade & Industry Ministry.

He added that this was “similar to other projects globally also evaluating other support programmes”.

El-Hoshy further said: “Although we benefit from advantaged infrastructure with the Adnoc ecosystem, strong and improving cost structure and strategic locations, we want to further de-risk our growth projects by ensuring offtake agreements.”

Project Rabdan

The planned Rabdan facility is part of an expansion phase of the Taziz Industrial Chemicals Zone in Ruwais Industrial City.

In addition to the main blue ammonia production plant, the planned complex will also feature units for hydrogen production and synthesis gas purification, as well as pipelines for the transport of feedstock gas, hydrogen and nitrogen.

The Rabdan facility will have its own storage, export, utilities and offsite units, and will also tap into those from the wider Taziz ecosystem.

A carbon capture and storage (CCS) system within the Rabdan complex will capture, compress and transport carbon dioxide emissions from its operations to a larger Adnoc CCS hub in Ruwais.

Blue hydrogen and ammonia goals

Abu Dhabi is set to become a major producer of blue hydrogen and blue ammonia when the first phase of the complex in the Taziz Industrial Chemicals Zone, which is currently under construction, enters operations in 2027.

The complex, known as Project Harvest, will be located within the first phase of the Taziz Industrial Chemicals Zone, which is being developed by Abu Dhabi Chemicals Derivatives Company RSC (Taziz) – in which Adnoc and industrial holding company ADQ are 60:40 shareholders.

A joint venture of Fertiglobe, South Korea’s GS Energy Corporation and Japanese investment firm Mitsui & Company is the main stakeholder in Project Harvest, which will have an output capacity of 1 million t/y.

The joint venture awarded Tecnimont the main contract, worth $500m, for EPC works on the blue ammonia production project in May 2024. El-Hoshy said Fertiglobe and its partners expect to start operations at the Project Harvest complex in 2027.

“Project Harvest benefits from one of the most competitive capex structures globally, especially as we look at the other geographies that have structurally higher costs, including non-feedstock related costs. Our benefit stems from the Adnoc ecosystem leveraging common utility, site and logistical infrastructure in Taziz,” El-Hoshy told MEED.

Project Rabdan is understood to be the expansion phase of the Taziz blue hydrogen and ammonia complex. Upon commissioning, which is most likely to take place before the end of this decade, Fertiglobe – as the main nitrogen-based ammonia business of Adnoc Group – will become the operator of the Rabdan facility.

The two projects in Abu Dhabi could add 2 million t/y of output potential, more than doubling Fertiglobe’s current commercial ammonia capacity of 1.6 million t/y and increasing its total sellable capacity to 8.6 million t/y of net ammonia and urea combined, in addition to other announced global projects.

Fertiglobe financial performance

Adnoc became the majority shareholder in Fertiglobe after completing a transaction in October wherein it increased its shareholding in the company from 36.2% to 86.2%. The remaining 13.8% of Fertiglobe’s shares trade on the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange, following the company’s stock listing in October 2022.

In the first quarter of this year, Fertiglobe announced revenues of $695m, representing a year-on-year growth of 26%. The company recorded adjusted profit attributable to shareholders of $73m, and adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (Ebitda) of $261m.

Fertiglobe attributed its positive first-quarter financial results to higher sales volumes, supported by operational improvements and strategic shipment deferrals from the last quarter of 2024, and higher urea prices.

Adjusted for turnarounds, asset utilisation and energy efficiency reached record highs across most plants in Q1 2025, driven by the ongoing phase one of the manufacturing improvement plan, which is now 80% complete.

As part of its 2030 growth strategy, Fertiglobe aims to become a $1bn-plus Ebitda “global integrated downstream product champion, well placed for the energy transition”. This encompasses four goals: achieving operational excellence of $165m-$175m, customer proximity of $30m-$45m, nitrogen product expansion of $75m-$100m and disciplined low-carbon ammonia growth of $70m-$100m.

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Indrajit Sen

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