China Ships World's Largest Single Green Ammonia Cargo to South Korea

Jilin Electric Power has exported what is reported to be the world's largest single green ammonia cargo, 3,750 tonnes, from its Da'an production complex in Jilin province to South Korea. The shipment is the latest export milestone from a facility that has been setting scale records since it began commercial operation a year ago.

What the Da'an Complex Actually Is

The Da'an Wind and Solar Green Hydrogen-Ammonia Integration Demonstration Project, operated by State Power Investment Corporation subsidiary Jilin Electric Power, began operations in July 2025 as what the company describes as the world's largest single-unit green ammonia production facility. It runs on 800 megawatts of installed renewable capacity, 700 MW wind and 100 MW solar, producing up to 32,000 tonnes of green hydrogen and 180,000 tonnes of green ammonia annually via water electrolysis followed by catalytic synthesis with nitrogen from the air. The project also holds records for hybrid hydrogen production scale, DC microgrid size and solid-state hydrogen storage capacity, according to the company.

Why the Certification Detail Matters More Than the Tonnage

The ammonia produced at Da'an holds EU Renewable Fuels of Non-Biological Origin (RFNBO) certification, the first project of its kind to secure this specifically for green ammonia. That certification is what gives the export cargo commercial value beyond China's domestic market: RFNBO status allows the ammonia to count toward compliance obligations under EU rules such as FuelEU Maritime, without requiring separate certification processes for European-bound volumes. Jilin Electric Power has structured offtake agreements accordingly, with buyers already in place across Europe, Japan and South Korea, including the Chinese operations of Electricité de France and the Dutch infrastructure group Royal Vopak.

Reading a Single Cargo Against the Plant's Annual Capacity

A 3,750-tonne cargo represents roughly 2% of Da'an's 180,000 tonne annual ammonia production capacity, so this shipment is one export delivery within an already-running annual program rather than evidence of a new production milestone in itself. Its significance lies in cargo size specifically, a single shipment large enough to be described as the world's largest of its kind, which speaks to the scale South Korean buyers are now willing to receive in a single delivery, an indicator of how green ammonia trade volumes are growing on the demand side as much as the supply side.

Where This Fits Within Korea's Broader Ammonia Buildout

This delivery lands amid a wider cluster of ammonia-related activity in South Korea this month, including EXMAR's ANTWERPEN completing its first commercial voyage on ammonia fuel. A large green ammonia import from China adds a supply-side data point to that same buildout, showing Korean demand being met by international imports as well as domestic infrastructure development in parallel.

Source: FuelCellsWorks, 28 July 2026