Spain's Grupo Fertiberia has signed an initial agreement with the region of Norrbotten in Sweden to develop a 100pc green and emission-free ammonia and fertilizer site.

The project will require an investment of more than €1bn ($1.75bn) and could be operational by 2026, potentially producing up to 520,000 t/yr of green ammonia for fertilizer and industrial markets. The site, based on electrolysis technology, will use only water and air as raw materials, supplied with renewable energy from wind and hydropower sources.

This initiative, named Green Wolverine, is Fertiberia's first green ammonia project outside Spain. A new site in Sweden's Lulea-Boden area will be developed, including more than 600MW of electrolysers, a green ammonia plant producing 1,500 t/day, and an annual production of more than 500,000t of low-carbon fertilisers and industrial products. The Norrbotten region already produces 100pc of its electricity from renewable sources.

The green ammonia produced at Green Wolverine will also be used to decarbonise strategic sectors of the economy, such as maritime transport or the mining industry, Fertiberia said.

Sweden has no local production and imports around 600,000t of various fertilizer products each year, with ammonia accounting for around 150,000t of this total. Sweden is one of the few countries in the EU without fertilizer production, but is pitching to become self-sufficient and one of the world's first exporters of low-carbon ammonia and fertilizers with this project.

Green Wolverine will need to attract industrial and financial partners. Fertiberia, in partnership with Spanish utility Iberdrola, is about to start production at the first industrial-scale green ammonia plant in Spain. In the coming months, a 20MW electrolyser will be operational at its Puertollano plant, paving the way for a 200MW plant scheduled at the Palos de la Frontera (Huelva) plant in 2023.

Spain plans to install a total of 800MW electrolysers by 2027, with a total investment of €1.8bn.