The first shipment of wind turbine components has reached the NEOM mega project in northwest Saudi Arabia. Chipolbrok’s multipurpose heavy lift vessel Kraszewski made the delivery to the Port of NEOM on October 8 for the NEOM Green Hydrogen Company (NGHC) which is building the world’s largest green hydrogen plant.

The first set of wind turbines is now being transported via road to the Wind Garden site near Gulf of Aqaba where they will be assembled and installed. Additional turbines are expected to be delivered by the end of the year, with NGHC’s Wind Garden ultimately featuring more than 250 to directly power the green hydrogen plant via a dedicated electricity transmission grid.

Shipping data shows that another MPP under Chipolbrok’s management, namely, the Chipol Changjiang is moored at the Port of NEOM. MPP Parandowski was also at the port on October 8.

Green hydrogen plant at NEOM

NGHC’s facility, located in Oxagon, NEOM’s reimagined industrial city, will integrate as much as 4 gigawatts of solar and wind energy to produce up to 600 tonnes of carbon-free hydrogen daily. Once the plant at NEOM is fully operational in 2026, 100 per cent of the green hydrogen produced will be available for global export in the form of green ammonia, through an exclusive long-term agreement with Air Products.

Wolfgang Brand, Vice President, NEOM Green Hydrogen Project, Air Products, said, “As the main engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) partner on the project, Air Products continues to make great progress in building NGHC’s large-scale green hydrogen plant, which will deliver clean energy for the world on a massive scale. Our teams and contractors are fully deployed on-ground and with a series of equipment deliveries continuing in the coming months, the sites are really starting to take shape.”

NGHC is seen as a key enabler of the renewable energy manufacturing ecosystem being built in Oxagon. As the ambitions for a clean industrial city take shape and development across NEOM accelerates, the port is expanding its capabilities to meet the rising cargo volumes being received, facilitating seamless import and export of materials and serving as an economic multiplier for the region.

Envision Energy is manufacturing the wind turbines for the NGHC facility as a supplier to Air Products, NGHC’s EPC contractor. NGHC is an equal joint venture among ACWA Power, Air Products and NEOM that is establishing the world’s largest green-hydrogen-based ammonia production plant running on renewable energy.

In May 2023, NGHC achieved full financial close at a total investment value of $8.4 billion including $6.1 billion in non-recourse financing from 23 local, regional, and international banks and financial institutions. Following this, the EPC agreements were concluded earlier this year with Air Products at a value of $6.7 billion.

NGHC also secured an exclusive 30-year off-take agreement with Air Products for all the green ammonia produced at the facility, which will unlock the economic potential of renewable energy across the entire value chain.

Envision Energy has turned to the logistics specialist Kuehne+Nagel to transport 190 wind turbine generators (WTG) and 67 tower sets to Saudi Arabia’s new special economic zone, NEOM.