Key Takeaways
- MAIRE subsidiary NEXTCHEM has been awarded licensing and equipment supply contracts for three world-scale complexes in West Africa.
- The total contract value is €485 million, with €10 million allocated for initial engineering activities.
- Two complexes will focus on urea production, while the third will co-produce ammonia and methanol.
- The projects utilize proprietary technologies including NX AdWinHydrogen® and NX STAMI™ for improved energy efficiency.
- Total urea production capacity is expected to exceed 3 million tons per annum across the new units.
MAIRE Subsidiary NEXTCHEM to Develop Three Large-Scale Complexes
MAIRE (MAIRE.MI) announced that NEXTCHEM, operating through its subsidiaries Stamicarbon and KT Tech, has secured contracts for licensing, process design packages (PDP), and critical equipment supply. These contracts involve the development of three industrial complexes for a major client in West Africa. Two facilities are dedicated to urea granules production, while the third integrates ammonia and methanol co-production.
The total value of the package is €485 million. Of this amount, €10 million for engineering activities already underway will be recognized in the pre-Final Investment Decision (FID) phase. The remaining balance will be recognized upon the Final Investment Decision.
Fertilizer Capacity and MAIRE Proprietary Technology
The two nitrogen fertilizer plants will consist of four hydrogen units utilizing NX AdWinHydrogen® technology and four ammonia units based on NX STAMI™ Ammonia technology. Furthermore, the complexes will include four urea-melt trains and six urea-granulation units. These facilities are designed to achieve an overall urea production exceeding 3 million tons per annum.
The NX AdWinHydrogen® autothermal reforming (ATR) process is used to produce syngas for downstream operations. Additionally, the NX STAMI™ Urea technology aims to reduce steam consumption and improve energy efficiency during the production of high-quality urea granules.
Ammonia and Methanol Co-Production Details
The third plant is designed to produce over 900,000 tons of ammonia and 600,000 tons of methanol annually. One unit will utilize NEXTCHEM’s ATR-based NX AdWin® Combined technology, which allows for sequential or parallel production of both chemicals at high pressure. Both the NX AdWin® Combined and NX AdWinHydrogen® technologies were developed by GasConTec, a MAIRE subsidiary specializing in low-carbon solutions.
Fabio Fritelli, Managing Director of NEXTCHEM, stated: “This is a landmark award, which leverage on NEXTCHEM’s integrated expertise across the hydrogen, ammonia, urea, and methanol value chains. It reinforces our position as a leading technology partner for large, integrated industrial projects, demonstrating the scalability and complementarity of our proprietary technologies.”
