Works can now begin on one of the world’s largest urea plants in Western Australia as Clough and its joint venture partner Sapiem reach the contractual conditions required.
The $2.8 billion Ceres urea plant is expected to be the largest in Australia and will include sustainable production processes.
Clough, the Australian subsidiary of the Webuild Group, will own 50 percent of the joint-venture and the other 50 percent by Saipem.
The contract entails the engineering, procurement, construction, pre-commissioning, and commissioning of the plant. The project will create an average of 2000 jobs during the construction phase.
Located on the Burrup Peninsula, approximately 20 kilometres north of Karratha on the coastline of Western Australia, the plant will have a production capacity of more than 2 million metric tonnes of urea per year.
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The plant will produce fertiliser from urea by transforming natural gas into ammonia and then into urea.
The joint-venture will install new technology from Topsoe, making the largest ammonia plant in the world on a single synthesis reactor, while the production process of urea will use Snamprogetti proprietary technology. The plant will also have a control system to ensure that the urea produced will be of the highest quality.
The Ceres plant has been designed to reduce industrial emissions as well as the carbon footprint of the production of fertiliser.
Perdaman and the joint-venture have committed to making the plant net carbon zero by 2050. Best practice in terms of CO2 emissions reduction will be applied.
Webuild chief executive Pietro Salini said the contract would see Webuild enter urea production at a time when global demand is growing.
We are especially proud to have reached this point, which confirms what was announced in the Roadmap to 2025. This contract brings valuable expertise to our Group thanks to the know-how brought by Clough. It also confirms the strategic value of this recent acquisition,” Salini said.
Webuild is expanding in Australia, the second biggest market for the Group after Italy.