Mabanaft submits permit-related approval documents for planned construction of ammonia import terminal in Hamburg

Last Friday, 12 July, energy company Mabanaft submitted the approval documents for the planned construction of an ammonia import terminal in Hamburg to the Hamburg Authority of Environment, Climate, Energy and Agriculture (BUKEA), according to the company's release. The ammonia import terminal will be built on Mabanaft's existing tank terminal Blumensand in the Port of Hamburg and will be used in particular to expand the hydrogen supply.

Subject to approval under the BImSchG, one of Mabanaft’s main construction measures includes restructuring the existing Blumensand tank storage facilities, which is wholly owned by Mabanaft's tank storage division, so that ammonia could also be imported, stored, and processed there in the future. This would require demolishing two large petroleum storage tanks. The permit application submission brings Mabanaft one step closer to realising its ammonia import terminal.

As part of the permitting process, Mabanaft was invited by BUKEA to participate in a scoping meeting with authority representatives and other parties in January 2024. The purpose of the scoping meeting was to determine the scope of the voluntary Environmental Impact Assessment (Umweltverträglichkeitsprüfung, abbreviated: UVP) and the documents to be submitted to BUKEA. In the spring and summer of 2023, Mabanaft also successfully completed an application conference and a HazID analysis to identify potential nautical risks.

In November 2022, Mabanaft announced, that it intends to build facilities for the import and handling of ammonia on the site of its existing Blumensand tank terminal in the Port of Hamburg. As part of the project, Mabanaft would be responsible for, among other things, the modification of the existing jetty, the demolition of two existing large tanks, the construction of a new tank for the storage of ammonia and the installation of pipelines for the transport of ammonia from the jetty to the ammonia storage tank. The facilities are scheduled to come on stream in 2027. Mabanaft's investment volume is in the triple-digit million range.
 
Oiltanking Deutschland, the Mabanaft Group’s tank storage business, has been active in tank storage logistics since 1972 and is one of the largest independent operators of tank terminals for oils and biofuels in Germany. The company owns and operates 11 terminals with a total storage capacity of 2.375 million cbm.