Two innovative Horizon Europe-funded projects, VERGE (Versatile and Direct e-Fuel and Fertiliser Generation from Renewable Electricity) and GAMMA (Green Ammonia and Biomethanol fuel Maritime Vessels), have come together for a dissemination event aimed at fueling the dialogue on sustainable ammonia production to contribute to the green transition of the shipping sector.
The event gathered partners of VERGE and GAMMA, representatives from the Icelandic Energy Cluster, researchers and general public. Prof. Sigurður Magnus Garðarsson, Dean of the School of Engineering and Natural Sciences at the University of Iceland graced the event and Prof. Egill Skúlason, VERGE Project Coordinator, together with Kjartan Due Nielsen, Innovation Manager for GAMMA, highlighted the objectives, outputs and progress of both projects.
Joining the panel discussion were Helga Dögg Flosadóttir (CEO, Atmonia ehf), Kjartan Due Nielsen (Innovation Manager, Verkís) and Spyros Kouvelis (VERGE External Expert and Team Leader at EU-GCC Cooperation on Green Transition). All three panellists engaged in an interesting and meaningful discussion surrounding the state of play of ammonia as e-fuel, especially for the maritime sector within the EU and domestically. They also exchanged insights and concurred that advocacies such as this dissemination event are important in shaping public opinion towards accepting sustainable ammonia production as a climate solution not only for the shipping sector but potentially to other sectors as well.
VERGE is a 3-year project that is fully funded (~3.2 million euros) by the Horizon Europe programme with project number 101084253. Its goal is to achieve a sustainable ammonia production process with direct electrocatalytic synthesis from nitrogen and water. The project will end in October 2025.
GAMMA is co-funded and receives 13 million euros in support from the Horizon Europe programme. The project started in January 2024 with the objective of developing and converting a bulk carrier to sail on climate-neutral fuels and green power.
To know more about VERGE and GAMMA, please follow their project websites.