Jul22493 11. Reinventing the nitrogen economy is no easy task, deep technology company Atmonia is aiming to do exactly that through developing a sustainable, small scale, intermittent ammonia production process. Its process uses either above baseload or curtailed electricity to produce ammonia, a valuable compound that can be used in many ways, including as a fertiliser or e-fuel. Clients of the company will then be purchasing the necessary hardware to carry out this ammonia production on their own sites. For more on this, we caught up with Atmonia’s CEO, Dr. Helga Dögg Flosadóttir. Currently, ammonia is produced via the industrial Haber-Bosch process developed in the 20th century, whereby temperatures of between 350500°C and a high-pressure environment (~200 bar) are needed. Keeping this environment running is a continuous operation, as shutting it down and then powering it back up again is both expensive and time consuming. This method also requires coal or natural gas for the hydrogen formation early in the process, with around two tonnes of CO2 produced per tonne of ammonia. “Our process operates at room temperature and pressure using aqueous electrolytes. When optimised, these conditions will allow for lower CAPEX and thus make it economically competitive with the industrial-scale HaberBosch process.” Founded in Reykjavík, Iceland, in 2016, Atmonia has spent nearly a decade working on sustainable and distributed ammonia production. Developing the catalyst and the system for its process, which requires only air, water, and renewable, intermittent electricity, is something it will continue to do until it officially enters the market in 2030. When it does make this leap, the company will not dictate what each ammonia production can be used for, opening to all potential ammonia markets, but it will focus first of all on the fertiliser market, before moving to the e-fuel market. The potential in both of these markets is huge. Firstly, around 80% of the world’s ammonia production is for fertiliser, with the compound able to be used as a fertiliser directly or converted into nitrate. Thus, it is fair to say that the farming industry is reliant on ammonia, but its production method clashes with the sustainable ethos of today. Secondly, ammonia makes a great fuel, especially for hard-to-electrify transportation like maritime or aviation, thanks to high energy density molecules that do not include carbon. All of this makes Atmonia and its ammonia production process attractive to a wide range of clients, particularly project planners in the realm of energy infrastructure, renewable electricity producers/providers, the farming community, ports, and off-taker fuel distributors. Its patentable technology is particularly exciting to those who value sustainability and efficiency, as the process can operate intermittently, with direct connection to renewable energy infrastructure. Something else that stands Atmonia apart is its value system, with sustainability, collaboration, and integrity being the main drivers behind its success. It is on the back of this value system that Atmonia’s mission, to make a dent in the global footprint and provide both fertiliser and fuel without compromise, appeared. On this, Helga commented: “We know that to accomplish the energy transfer and sustainable fertiliser production we need strong collaborations with experts across the value chain.” Being based in Europe has allowed Atmonia to develop these collaborations, with the Horizon Europe grants it has received bringing new opportunities and offering greater depth than the company would otherwise have achieved. Thanks to this, the team here were able to reach a significant milestone last year, demonstrating ammonia production in a scalable, electrochemical cell using 15N isotope labelling, a process then reproduced in two laboratories in Europe, highlighting a global breakthrough. On the back of this, Helga explained that the next steps for the company are to use machine learning and design of experiments to optimise process parameters for energy demand, production rate, and process stability, three areas it must focus on before scaling up. At the same time, plans are in place to create a permit pathway and fine-tune its plan to enter the market, with this again scheduled to take place in the year 2030. It was here that Helga stressed the importance of research and development funding, especially with its recent EIC ‘EASY Project’ grant, which is one of the pillars needed if a thriving economy of deep technology development is supported. It also helps to drive international and interdisciplinary collaboration across Europe, marking a brighter future for start-ups like Atmonia looking to drive real change. Atmonia has been lucky enough to participate in two Horizon Europe projects, providing both funding, collaboration opportunity across Europe and scientific validation (VERGE GA: 101084253, FIREFLY GA: 101091715). More on Atmonia’s aims and processes can be found below. Contact: Dr. Helga Dögg Flosadóttir Company: Atmonia Web Address: https://atmonia.com/ Global Leaders in Nitrogen Electrolyser Technology 2025
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