Having been appointed the head of Iverson eFuels and Hy2gen Norge on November 1, 2022, Hege Økland will now lead the development of a renewable green ammonia production center in Sauda in western Norway to help decarbonize the shipping industry.
Over the past 10 years, Økland has been responsible for building and leading Maritime CleanTech, a cluster organization that has helped to develop and deliver several innovation projects within the Norwegian maritime sector.
Also known as Iverson, the planned Sauda project is estimated to have a first-phase production capacity of 600 tons of ammonia each day, with an electrolysis capacity of approximately 250MW. Over time the facility will be scaled up, the being to become one of the largest production facilities for green fuel globally.
Hy2gen Norge is one of three partners in the Iverson project. The other two are trading company Trafigura and a fund managed by Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners (CIP).
“I am looking forward to leading this project with these partners who all have a strong will and ability to succeed in contributing to the green shift in shipping,” said Økland. “Large-scale development is taking place on the ship technology side to be able to use ammonia as fuel. Now it remains to arrange the delivery of the fuel, which of course must be carbon free.”
In her new role at Hy2gen Norge, Økland will also evaluate other locations for the production of green fuels within Norway and Scandinavia.
“We want to establish ourselves in locations together with local and international partners where we see a willingness to facilitate new green industrial workplaces, as we see in Sauda,” added Økland. “Achieving the climate goals is more important than ever and this involves both huge investments and great industrial opportunities. We want to be a part of that.”
