Partners & collaborators

Delivering deployable green ammonia systems requires deep collaboration across research, industry, and the energy system (learn more about project phases).

Winter Ammonia

Ongoing

Funded by UKRI's critical mass programme. Winter-ammonia addresses one of the UK’s most pressing Net Zero challenges: how to store renewable energy across seasons. The project focuses on ammonia as a scalable, flexible energy carrier and storage medium, capable of absorbing excess renewable energy and supporting energy storage at season-long timescales. ASPIRE, the UK’s first flexible e-ammonia plant, will be used and optimised during the project providing valuable input data to the consortium.

Investigators

University of Birmingham
Science & Technology Facilities Council
University of Nottingham
Imperial College London
Cardiff University
Durham University

Low Carbon Hydrogen Supply 2 competition - Stream 1 Phase 2

April 2023 - February 2026

Primary Investigator

Science & Technology Facilities Council

STFC is proud to have lead and hosted Phase 2 of the ASPIRE project. In-house engineering teams delivered:

  • Designed process, mechanical, electrical, and control systems for the flexible synthesis of Aspire MK0.
  • Built Aspire MK0 demonstrator at Rutherford Appleton Laboratory.
  • Tested performance and behaviour of the green ammonia system using real-world data.

"We look forward to building on this success as we continue to realise the role that flexible green ammonia production can play for today's industry - transforming curtailed renewable energy into a valuable product, enhancing supply security, delivering high-purity ammonia, simplifying logistics, and supporting decarbonisation. Equally, we are excited to contribute, alongside a growing community of researchers, technology developers and industry leaders to advancing the understanding of the wider role green ammonia could play in future net-zero energy systems as both an energy storage medium and a low-carbon fuel."

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Collaborators

University of Bath

"It has been a great experience to work with the great engineers at the Energy Research Unit at STFC, JM and FNC to deliver a ground-breaking flexible green ammonia demonstrator. It was a challenging project that brought together our expertise in green technology, dynamic modelling, and chemical engineering design in support of a diverse and brilliant engineering team."

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Johnson Matthey

"We worked with STFC on phase 2 of the ASPIRE project, combining Johnson Matthey's expertise in ammonia synthesis with STFC's strong background in research and innovation. It was good to be involved in this step out green ammonia process development and STFC and the other project partners were highly collaborative and a pleasure to work with."

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Frazer Nash Consulting

"Through our work with STFC, we made a significant contribution to the successful development of a flexible green ammonia plant demonstration. We’re proud to have supported the ASPIRE project with our expertise in advanced system design, safety engineering, control systems, and techno-economic assessment."

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Oort Energy

“Oort Energy have very much enjoyed collaborating with the STFC team on the ASPIRE project. It’s a clever and well implemented facility demonstrating the potential of renewable power to synthesise an increasingly important commodity. We’re proud of our part in helping STFC integrate PEM electrolysis into their successful demonstration.”

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Low Carbon Hydrogen Supply 2 competition - Stream 1 Phase 1

March 2021 - October 2022

Primary Investigator

Science & Technology Facilities Council

STFC is proud to have lead and hosted Phase 1 of the ASPIRE project. In-house engineering teams delivered:

  • Designed dynamic plant model to investigate different strategies for flexibility.
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Collaborators

Frazer Nash Consulting

"Through our work with STFC, we made a significant contribution to the successful development of a flexible green ammonia plant demonstration. We’re proud to have supported the ASPIRE project with our expertise in advanced system design, safety engineering, control systems, and techno-economic assessment."

Visit website →