SA manufacturing facility poised to reverse Australia’s urea fertiliser dependency

In a bid to break Australia’s heavy dependence on imported products for urea fertiliser, Greenhill Energy is set to launch the Riverbend Energy Hub in South Australia’s Murraylands.

This bold project aims to not just diminish the country’s reliance on international markets yet in addition reinforce food security and promote sustainability in the agricultural sector.

The proposed manufacturing facility in Tailem Bend will be a spearheading project, coordinating landfill waste and sustainable biomass to create high-esteem products like urea fertiliser, synthetic fuels, and clean hydrogen.

With partnerships previously with industry giants like Elders, Solo Revenue Resource, and Peats Soil and Garden Supplies, Greenhill Energy is ready to redirect biomass and waste materials into its processing facility beginning in 2025.

Nicholas Mumford, executive managing director of Greenhill Energy, highlighted the significance of supporting local farmers while addressing Australia’s weakness in fluctuating international prices.

“We know our lack of sovereign capacity and resilience worries many people on the land. We aim to provide domestic supply certainty and place downward pressure on the cost of local food production,” Mumford said.

The initiative comes at a crucial time when Australia’s reliance on foreign urea imports is heightening yearly.

The conclusion of regional plants in 2022 further exacerbated the circumstance, leaving the country dependent on international sources.

Be that as it may, Greenhill Energy’s innovative approach offers a sustainable arrangement by reusing waste materials into important assets.

The Riverbend Energy Hub will utilise advanced waste-to-hydrogen technologies, including gasification, to produce “green urea” and clean hydrogen.

Initially targeting 100,000 tonnes of green urea production, Greenhill Energy aims to scale up operations to meet a significant portion of the nation’s urea needs in the future.

“We are proud to be one step closer to delivering Australia’s first fully integrated facility of this kind in regional South Australia to convert high volume sustainable biomass and landfill waste into high value upcycled products, such as urea fertiliser,” Mumford added.