thyssenkrupp Uhde and Uniper have entered into a strategic partnership to bring a key technology for global hydrogen trading to industrial maturity: the large-scale ammonia cracker. In an ammonia cracker, ammonia is catalytically broken down into its components, hydrogen and nitrogen, at high temperatures, and pure hydrogen is then produced in a purification process. In a first step, a demonstration plant with a capacity of 28 tons of ammonia per day will be built at Uniper’s Gelsenkirchen-Scholven site in Germany. The plant will serve as the basis for the planned hydrogen import terminal in Wilhelmshaven, northwestern Germany, where the technology is to be applied on a large industrial scale in a second step.
The aim of the partnership is to convert imported ammonia into hydrogen on an industrial scale and make it available for a wide range of industries such as energy, steel, and chemicals. The cooperation marks an important step towards strengthening energy security and the sustainable transformation of energy-intensive industries.
Construction has started, and commissioning is planned for the end of 2026.