Atvos partners with Tsubame BHB to develop green aqueous ammonia project

• The product will be used as fertilizer in the company's agricultural activities, considerably reducing its carbon footprint.  

• Located in Mineiros (GO), the factory will have a capacity of 20,000 tons per year.

Atvos signed a letter of intent with Tsubame BHB, a Japanese startup, to develop a green aqueous ammonia plant in Mineiros (GO), where the Morro Vermelho Unit (UMV), responsible for ethanol production, is located.

Atvos will invest over R$70 million in the new plant, which will have an installed capacity of 20,000 tons of the product. The product will replace fossil-based nitrogen fertilizers applied in agricultural areas at both the UMV and the Alto Taquari Unit (UAT), located in the municipality of the same name in Mato Grosso. With this solution, the company is expected to avoid the emission of around 11,000 tons of CO₂ per year, considerably reducing its carbon footprint.

″As one of the largest biofuel producers in Brazil, Atvos is committed not only to contributing to the decarbonization of the world’s major economies, but also to reducing emissions from its operations,″ explains Atvos CEO Bruno Serapião. ″Therefore, the partnership with Tsubame BHB represents an important step towards achieving these goals, because at the same time that we reduce the use of fossil-based nitrogen fertilizers in our field activities, we further drive the socioeconomic development of the municipalities where we operate, promoting job creation and income generation for local communities,″ he adds.

The expectation is that, with the completion of the detailed engineering and environmental licensing, work on the construction of the factory will begin next year, with operations scheduled to begin in 2027. The technological basis of the project, developed by Tsubame BHB, guarantees a safer and more sustainable process for the synthesis of green aqueous ammonia, by using green hydrogen and nitrogen captured from the air, diluted in water, without using fossil fuels in its manufacturing process. In addition to being applied in sustainable agriculture, the product can also be used in the chemical and pharmaceutical industries, in addition to water treatment.

Brazil has great potential to become a leading producer of green hydrogen, taking advantage of its abundant renewable energy resources, in addition to its extensive consumption of nitrogen-based fertilizers. Therefore, we believe it is one of the countries with great potential to produce green ammonia as a fertilizer, using our distributed ammonia synthesis plant. We are very honored to be able to collaborate with a significant biofuel producer like Atvos, contributing to the decarbonization of Brazilian agriculture,″ says Tsubame BHB CEO Koji Nakamura.

The letter of intent between Atvos and Tsubame BHB was signed in Japan, in a delegation attended by the President of the Republic, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, and the Japanese Prime Minister, Shigeru Ishiba.