EPC hired for Paraguay green fertilizer project

Green ammonia developer Atome Energy has selected the engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contractors for its 145MW Villeta project in Paraguay.

The companies are Casale and Urbas Energy which carried out the front-end engineering design (FEED) study, Atome chief executive Olivier Mussat said in an investor presentation.

State power company Ande will supply Villeta from the country’s 100% hydroelectric grid and the facility will produce up to 264,000t/y of calcium ammonium nitrate.

Mussat added that the offtake agreement is being finalized and due to be completed in the coming weeks and that a final investment decision and the start of construction is expected by year-end.

Thirty hectares of land have been purchased for Villeta and the environmental and operating licenses have been granted and a tax-free zone declared.

According to Atome, Villeta would displace 15Mt of CO2 over its useful life.

The company’s development pipeline includes the 300MW Yguazu hydro project in Paraguay and an as yet unnamed 120MW one in Costa Rica, with power purchase agreements due in place this year.

Yguazu would produce up to 225,000t/y of zero-carbon ammonia to be used for green fertilizer. A pre-PPA has been inked with Ande and pre-FEED work would begin after the signing of the PPA.

In the case of Costa Rica, Atome previously established National Ammonia with local partner Cavendish and a framework collaboration agreement was recently inked with state power company ICE.

The next steps for the Central America project entail the completion of power connection feasibility studies, a roadmap and a legal review with ICE.

When asked about Atome's shift to focus on green fertilizer and not green hydrogen, Mussat said the market for using the alternative fuel for mobility is "extremely slow."