China's Envision Energy has signed a binding sales agreement to supply Japan's Marubeni with ammonia produced using renewable energy sources, according to an official report from Envision seen by Platts, part of S&P Global Commodity Insights, on May 23.

Envision Energy, a Shanghai-headquartered multinational corporation, has developed various renewable and industrial park projects worldwide, leveraging its core products such as wind turbines, battery energy storage systems and electrolyzers.

Marubeni, a Japanese conglomerate, plays a key role in advancing the global adoption of renewable ammonia.

According to the report, the renewable ammonia to be supplied to Marubeni will be sourced from Envision's project in Chifeng, Inner Mongolia. Phase 1 of the Chifeng project was completed and became operational in March 2024, establishing a production capacity of 300,000 mt/year of renewable hydrogen and ammonia.

In May 2024, Marubeni told Platts that it planned to produce 3 million-5 million mt/year of low-carbon or renewable ammonia from global projects by 2030.

The sales agreement with Marubeni included details on how the renewable ammonia will be produced, transported and verified, according to the report.

Ammonia from the Chifeng project is expected to be produced using 100% renewable electricity and has been verified as renewable ammonia by Bureau Veritas, the report said, highlighting that this is the first renewable ammonia product certified by BV.

"The strong alliance of Envision and Marubeni has further proved the feasibility of commercializing green ammonia," Envision said in the report, adding that the collaboration will leverage its integrated renewable hydrogen-ammonia solution along with Marubeni's global energy trading network and extensive operational experience.

"Through the deal, we also hope to set a new template for future international trading of renewable ammonia," the company added.

Envision did not disclose further details about the sales agreement. Executives at Marubeni contacted by Platts on May 23 declined to comment on the development.

Platts, part of Commodity Insights, assessed blue ammonia CFR Far East Asia at $369.55/mt on May 22, down 3.33% month over month, while blue ammonia CFR Northwest Europe was assessed at $493/mt, down 7.29% over the same period.

The Platts weekly assessment showed Middle East renewable-derived ammonia delivered into Far East Asia with a high capacity factor at $821.5/mt on May 19, unchanged month over month.