2023 Annual Reporting Suite Case Studies
Safe and responsible business
To learn more, visit Safe and responsible business.
Safety Leadership in action
Orica’s NextGen Safety Leadership program is designed for operational leaders who lead teams at the frontline and manage our Major Hazards every day. NextGen builds an understanding of the role of trust in achieving safe, high-performing teams and effectively influencing safety-critical behaviour. The NextGen program gives front-line leaders an understanding of the psychological drivers of behaviour, and the ways successful leaders influence their team’s thinking and behaviours. It provides practical tactics which can be used to build trust and develop safe behaviours in everyday working situations such as pre-start meetings, inspections, inductions and other safety interactions, and a supportive team environment where these skills can be practised.
The program is a cross-functional collaboration combining internal data and the latest research on human behaviour and psychology. By observing our most successful frontline leaders, our development team identified the most effective routines and leadership practices for influencing safety performance.
The NextGen Safety Leadership Program has been successfully delivered in Asia, starting in India and most recently in Indonesia. The program has also received external attention, with a presentation at the SAFEX conference in Salzburg, Austria earlier this year where it was recognised as an industry game changer. SAFEX is an explosives industry organisation that shares learning around Safety, Health, Environment and Security best practice, to prevent incidents. Orica is an active member of SAFEX and we are represented on their Board accordingly.
First Nations engagement and cultural heritage protection in Australia
Following formal endorsement from Reconciliation Australia, Orica officially launched our first Reflect Reconciliation Action Plan (RAP) in Australia in late 2022.
Our vision for reconciliation is a future based on mutual respect where we acknowledge and learn from our shared past and forge a path forward for a more hopeful future. We seek to form a genuine connection to the land and waters on which we operate by building respectful and meaningful relationships with First Nations communities who have always cared for their surrounding environments.
A RAP is important for Orica as it aligns to our values, forms part of the commitment made within our Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Strategy, and helps to build inclusion between Orica and our communities. In the spirt of the RAP, we commissioned a special artwork by talented Hunter Valley, Wonnarua artist Kerri-Ann Taggart. The work was unveiled at our RAP launch event at Kurri Kurri Technical Centre where Kerri-Ann shared her vision and the story behind the artwork.
Orica’s RAP Actions are based around the three Reconciliation Australia core pillars: Relationships, Respect and Opportunities and include measurable targets such as;
- Increase understanding, value and recognition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures, histories, and knowledge through cultural learning
- Increase Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander supplier diversity to support improved economic and social outcomes
“This is the first step. The actions outlined in this RAP are intended to grow and deepen as we develop further opportunities toward reconciliation with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and communities” - Sanjeev Gandhi, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer.
With a large team and an increasing sphere of influence, this RAP forms a foundation from which Orica aims to grow to actively support all dimensions of reconciliation.
To learn more, visit community and relationships.
Artist - Kerri-Ann Taggart (Wonnarua)
Customers, technology and innovation
To learn more, visit Customers, technology and innovation.
WebGen™ wireless initiating systems
Since September 2023, Orica’s WebGen™ wireless initiating systems have been successfully deployed in over 50 sites worldwide, facilitating more than 6,000 blasts. Our customers are increasingly utilising WebGen™ for the operational flexibility it offers and the advantages of keeping people away from hazardous areas.
In late 2022, we launched the second generation of wireless initiating systems. WebGen™ 200 Underground Pro suited for underground production blasting, and WebGen™ Underground Dev has been designed for mechanical assembly and will enable the automation of underground development loading with Avatel™. WebGen™ 200 Surface (launched March 2023) is suited for surface applications enabling mine schedule flexibility, lightning risk reduction and social responsibility solutions. WebGen™ 200 Surface Pro version (commercialising in 2024) designed for extreme blasting conditions.
To learn more, visit WebGen™.
Avatel™ mechanised wireless development charging
We work with our customers to drive innovation. Avatel™ service commenced at Newcrest’s Cadia Valley Operations in New South Wales (NSW), Australia, with the first shot fired in May 2023. Newcrest, known for its early adoption of new technologies, became a foundation partner of the Avatel™ program during the initial stages of the project.
Collaboration with industry partners like the team at Cadia is crucial for the successful adoption of disruptive innovations such as Avatel™. We’re extremely proud to have worked with Newcrest, being the first in the world to fully embed Avatel™ into their operations. We will continue the Avatel™ build program to support rollout globally.
In FY2023, Orica was recognised as the Most Innovative Large Company and achieved the number one spot under the Agriculture, Mining and Utilities category for Avatel™ in the 2023 Australian Financial Review and Inventium’s Most Innovative Companies List.
To learn more, visit Avatel™.
OREPro™ 3D Predict
OREPro™ 3D Predict software is a near real-time blast movement simulator and grade control polygon optimiser – leveraging on the power of Orica’s original OREPro™ 3D modelling expertise with an addition of the enhanced predictive SmartVector™ technology.
OREPro™ 3D Predict opens the door to iterative designs and the quantification of value in each blast design. Using readily available mine data as inputs, including blast designs and in-situ block models, sophisticated physics-based algorithms predict movement dynamics throughout the entire blast volume to create a swelled post-blast grade control block model. The polygon optimisation tools will then suggest delineations that can help achieve the highest value possible.
Understanding where the rock mass has moved during the blast is critical to separating ore and waste effectively and creating downstream efficiencies in the mining process. OREPro™ 3D Predict takes this a step further by simulating post-blast topography when it cannot be surveyed safely, handling complex boundary conditions with ease, and providing enhanced transparency by animating the entire predicted movement.
OREPro™ 3D Predict further enhances Orica’s Digital Solutions offerings by allowing customers to plan effectively and track material through complex interactions with the surrounding geology.
To learn more, visit OREPro™.
BlastIQ™ – improves drilling accuracy and drill and blast costs
We support our customers to digitise and streamline quality assurance and compliance processes to unlock greater value and productivity in drilling and blasting.
PT Freeport Indonesia Grasberg Mine is one of the largest producers of copper-gold in Indonesia, located in the remote highlands of Papua, Indonesia. To improve their quality assurance and compliance of drilling and blasting operations, they turned to Orica’s BlastIQ™ tool.
BlastIQ™ is a cloud-based platform which offers complete control throughout the blasting process and supports drill and blast operations by digitising workflow. One of the key BlastIQ™ features beneficial to drilling is its ability to provide real-time warning notifications to users if the actual drilled length deviates outside of the tolerated design length. This system ensures that blasting operations remain on track and within safe limits. Immediate notifications of any deviations from the design are sent to users, enabling corrective actions to be taken directly on the bench.
Though this engagement, we found that the BlastIQ™ system can assist customers in reducing 38 per cent of unnecessary drill and blast costs over a year by improving design compliance. Its digital database reporting offers users the benefit of secure and convenient access to drill and blast information, and it minimises deviation against bench target through near real time monitoring on ‘Backfilling and Re-drilling Required’ alerts.
To learn more, visit BlastIQ™.
Fortis™ Protect – lowering the impact of bulk explosives on waterways
Ammonium Nitrate is a key ingredient in explosives, but it must be safely stored, handled and applied in bulk explosives to prevent groundwater pollution. Orica has developed a Nitrate Risk Reduction framework that assesses the risk of nitrate loss at a customer site, benchmarks existing approaches against best practices, and recommends solutions to improve nitrate risk management. Meanwhile our Fortis™ Protect bulk explosives products use advanced surface chemistry and increased viscosity to significantly reduce the risk of nitrate leaching from blasting operations as well as the generation of post-blast fumes.
To learn more, visit Fortis™.
Cyclo™ - Reusing and reducing waste oil from remote mine sites, while reducing emissions
Our innovative Cyclo™ service provides a more sustainable circular economy approach to waste management.
Using a modular, relocatable and automated processing system, Cyclo™ enables used oil to be recycled directly onsite, replacing up to 50 per cent of the virgin diesel used to make an emulsion explosive. Cyclo™ can displace the required virgin diesel consumption for explosives manufacture for customers, depending on bulk explosive consumption, by approximately 250 to 800 kilolitres per year per site when operational. Estimated GHG emissions reduced from the reduction in virgin diesel consumption range from 167 to 534 tCO2-e per year per site, depending on the bulk explosive consumption. On top of diesel consumption reduction benefits, Cyclo™ reduces truck movements and associated GHG emissions to transport the displaced diesel to the mine site and waste oil to the disposal site.
A greenhouse gas lifecycle analysis has also confirmed that the total lifecycle emissions of ‘Cyclo’ treated waste oil are 20 per cent lower than virgin diesel. This means our customers can simultaneously reduce waste and their greenhouse gas emissions.
Cyclo™ units are currently installed across several customer sites in Africa and Asia/Oceania. Further installations in Latin America and more sites across Africa are slated for completion by the end of the year, while a version to suit arctic conditions is being developed for Canada, China and Mongolia.
To learn more, visit Cyclo™.
Exel™ Neo – world’s first lead-free non-electric detonator range
Responding to gaps in the market for environmentally friendly initiation systems products, we launched Exel™ Neo. The Neo range of Exel™ non-electric detonators is produced using a safer and more sustainable lead-free formulation in Gyttorp, Sweden, with no lead or lead compounds used in the manufacturing process of the pyrotechnic delay compositions.
The newly launched Exel™ Neo range is designed for use in civil infrastructure as well as surface and underground mining operations. The lead-free alternative can burn with the same accuracy as our current lead-based delay compositions, as confirmed through independent tests on timing accuracy and scatter patterns.
The Exel™ non-electric blasting technology range encompasses safety, innovation and excellence and is built based on the Non Primary Explosives Detonator (NPED) technology, successfully used by Orica for the last 30 years.
Among some of the key benefits, the new product range is manufactured close to Orica’s customer base in Europe and includes distinct safety and environmental benefits, with lead or lead compounds removed from the production process and thus eliminated from release into environment.
To learn more, visit Exel™ Neo.
4D™ bulk systems technology
4D™ is an advanced bulk system that supports surface and underground blasting operations and can improve orebody recovery, overall explosive consumption and improved fume, vibration and nitrate leaching control. In FY2023, a case study conducted on one of our customer sites revealed a 12 per cent volume reduction in bulk explosive consumption using 4D™ technology, and a reduction in associated value chain GHG emissions, compared to a standard product reference case.
To learn more, visit 4D™.
People and capabilities
To learn more, visit People and capabilities.
Orica as the home of the future shaper
Taking into consideration the diversity of perspectives gained through employee listening strategies, Orica’s activated employee value proposition provides a point of differentiation in the competitive talent market. Underpinned by the foundational principles of safety, sustainability and diversity, equity and inclusion, Orica’s strengths lie in how we grow, shape and spark together.
Our activation approach has focused on experience, employee advocacy, and enhanced employer branding. Our global efforts have focused on establishing an Ambassador Program, Orica’s new career website and the roll out of a learning pathway to build capability to attract and retain talent. By generating momentum, we are driving local activation throughout the employee lifecycle, and ultimately strengthening our position as an employer of choice globally.
Here's what some of our future shaper ambassadors had to say:
- “I love the diversity of work and operational environments we can work in, no day is the same. No matter my role, I strive to leave things better than I found them. I have a real passion for supporting diverse new talent, at the end of the day our business is all about people!” Chloe Quinn, Business Manager, AusPac
- “Orica is a truly global company, full of opportunities with a diverse team. I value being able to help develop people, investing in ESG initiatives in Peru and helping generate value for the Latin American region to grow.” Matheus Freitas, Senior Manager, Finance, LATAM
- "It is the people, the culture we have here is our most valuable asset. Ensuring we have the customer at the center of what we do enables my team to be at their best and make a positive impact every day." Fernanda Carrea, Vice President, Technology, GroundProbe
To learn more, visit our careers website.
Climate and the natural environment
To learn more visit Climate and the natural environment.
Sourcing renewable electricity in New South Wales, Australia
In 2022, we signed a Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) for renewable electricity generated from Wellington North solar farm in New South Wales (NSW), Australia. The solar farm is anticipated to supply around 50 per cent of our Australian electricity needs which will reduce Orica’s global Scope 2 emissions by over 60,000 metric tonnes of carbon emissions annually. This is equivalent to the power used by 19,000 NSW residences in a year. Once Wellington North is fully operational by its target delivery date of 2025, we estimate that around 30 per cent of the electricity Orica uses globally will come from renewables.
To learn more, visit our news and media page.
Kooragang Island decarbonisation project delivers first 250,000 tCO2-e of abatement
In an Australian first, tertiary abatement catalyst technology was successfully installed on all three nitric acid plants (NAPs) at our Kooragang Island facility in FY2023. It is expected to reduce the site’s total emissions by around 48 per cent and Australia’s total chemical industry process emissions by 11 per cent. To put it in perspective - each year it will continue to eliminate the equivalent emissions of 50,000 Australian homes. Tertiary catalyst technology has mitigated 98 per cent of nitrous oxide emissions from our nitric acid production at Kooragang Island, with site-wide Scope 1 and 2 emissions now 30 per cent below 2019 baseline levels. This $37M project is a partnership with the New South Wales government and the Clean Energy Finance Corporation and aligns with Orica’s ambition to collaborate meaningfully with government and industry to achieve net zero emissions.
The project is part of our ongoing rollout of secondary and tertiary abatement catalyst at our continuous manufacturing sites. In FY2022, we achieved 95 per cent abatement efficiency through installing the technology at our Carseland site in Canada. The site’s Scope 1 and 2 GHG emissions intensity per tonne of AN produced in FY2023 is down 51 per cent compared to operation prior to installation of tertiary abatement.
This represents real abatement and decarbonisation onsite, delivering on our GHG emissions reductions targets and climate commitments. More importantly, it is enabling us to produce lower-carbon intensity ammonium nitrate products and solutions, commercialising our decarbonisation initiatives by helping to reduce our customers’ Scope 3 emissions profiles.
In FY2024, we are planning to commence deployment of tertiary abatement technology at our Yarwun manufacturing facility in Gladstone, Queensland, which is expected to reduce our emissions by around 200 ktCO2-e each year. These projects prove that with the right policy settings and corporate commitments, impactful emissions reduction is possible in hard-to-abate and expensive-to-abate sectors of the economy.
To learn more, visit our news and media page.
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Tertiary Catalyst Abatement Technology, EnviNOx®
Hunter Valley Hydrogen Hub
We know that meeting our net zero goals will require a low carbon alternative feedstock for ammonia manufacturing. And that this feedstock will likely come in the form of renewable hydrogen, to replace natural gas feedstock used today.
We have partnered with Origin Energy on the Hunter Valley Hydrogen Hub, located next to our Kooragang Island site in Australia, to deliver commercial-scale renewable hydrogen. This partnership represents an important opportunity to further understand the role of renewable hydrogen in our decarbonisation pathways and future business model.
The proposed facility will produce renewable hydrogen via electrolysis using recycled water, renewable electricity and a grid-connected ~60MW electrolyser. While modest in size, the facility is designed to be scaled up through subsequent phases.
Renewable hydrogen manufactured at the hub will be used to progressively replace natural gas in our site’s production of low-carbon ammonia and ammonium nitrate – crucial products for many businesses across New South Wales (NSW) including the mining, agriculture, health, and food industries.
The Hunter Valley Hydrogen Hub will play a key role in Orica’s decarbonisation journey and help us to achieve our ambition of net zero emissions by 2050.
To learn more, visit Hunter Valley Hydrogen Hub.
Renewable efforts in Mexico
Across Orica sites we are turning to renewable energy sources to power our operations. We are happy to share that Monclova Office in Mexico is contributing toward our emission goals by implementing the first solar panels system in Orica Mexico.
So far, we have installed 58 panels on site which are now supplying our office with renewable energy. This initiative is one of the ways we are progressing against our goal of 100% renewable electricity by 2040.
Alpha HPA – optimising resources and reducing waste
We expanded our strategic partnership with Alpha HPA, taking a five per cent equity position. Alpha HPA offers a suite of high purity alumina products which are critical raw minerals for decarbonisation. High-purity alumina manufactured by Alpha HPA has a carbon footprint potentially 70 per cent lower than traditional production processes.
The partnership leverages chemical process synergies between Orica and Alpha HPA - its proprietary technology requires reagents to purify raw materials, which is manufactured at our Yarwun plant in Australia. At the same time, Alpha HPA produces ammonium nitrate solution as a waste by-product of its manufacturing process, which is key to our Yarwun operations.
Sustainability-linked loans to incentivise our sustainability performance
Sustainability-linked loans (SLLs) provide a financial incentive for companies to achieve their sustainability commitments and improve their sustainability performance. They do this by measuring progress against key performance indicators. If agreed targets are met, lenders reward companies with discounts on their loan margin (that is, the cost of capital). If targets aren’t met, penalties apply.
In FY2022, Orica converted $1.3 billion of existing bank debt facilities to SLLs, becoming one of the first hard to abate heavy manufacturers to commit to this approach. The key sustainability performance indicators under the SLLs are:
- reducing Scope 1 and Scope 2 greenhouse gas emissions
- reducing potable water intensity; and
- increasing representation of women in senior leadership
We have focused on those areas where we can make a meaningful impact and have set ambitious performance targets and indicators that are aligned to Orica’s public commitments. This means that improving our sustainability is embedded into the way that Orica does business every day and that all of our executives are aligned in meeting our targets.
Importantly, our focus goes beyond emissions and climate change to prioritise our management of water, which is vital for the continued health and wellbeing of the communities and ecosystems we operate in. Increasing the representation of women in senior leadership has also been identified as critical to Orica’s success and a success measure of our ongoing efforts to foster a diverse, equitable and inclusive culture.
Supporting Orica with this transaction were The Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Limited, Sydney Branch and Westpac Banking Corporation as Lead Sustainability Coordinators, and Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Limited and The Commonwealth Bank of Australia as Co-Lead Sustainability Coordinators. The transaction is aligned with the Sustainability-Linked Loan Principles (SLLP) and was supported with an independent second-party opinion.
To learn more, visit our news and media page.
Community and relationships
To learn more, visit Community and relationships.
Ronald McDonald House, Australia
We have a longstanding relationship with Ronald McDonald House (RMH) located at the John Hunter Hospital in Australia. In FY2023, we provided a $15,000 donation to RMH Charities Northern NSW to support their efforts in keeping families together in times of need. Alongside our regular participation in the ‘Meals from the Heart’ initiative, where one day every month, our Kurri Kurri Technical Centre team plan, prepare and cook dinner for the residents of RMH, the Kurri Team also sponsored the redesign of a games room for children at RMH and fundraised for the CEO Walk In My Shoes event, where senior leaders experienced a day in the life of a family who stays at Ronald McDonald House Newcastle. Orica matched employee donations of $2,600 for this event. This longstanding partnership provides a way to actively engage our employees in the community and provide a small comfort to those in need with sick children.
Refurbished room at Ronald McDonald House in Newcastle
Abrinord, Canada
Abrinord is one of the 40 watershed organisations officially recognised by the Government of Quebec affirming the collective nature of water resources and promoting better governance of water and associated environments. This project is focused on developing a riparian environment conservation plan, protecting nature and wildlife.
Orica contributed $20,000 to support a larger project focusing on sustainable land use planning, protection of wildlife habitats, improving accessibility to natural environments and the quality of the landscape. The grant enabled students to become familiar with water-related issues in a spirit of experiential learning.
Basic electronic skills, Peru
The educational institution Colegio 40091 Alma Mater De Congata is located in the town of Congata, province of Uchumayo. The OIF provided a grant of $16,900 to cover training and materials to support classroom education sessions about electricity. This project was centred on creating functional classrooms that helped to educate students and parents on how electricity is transported, what circuits are and how they can apply learning from the classroom elsewhere. Overall, 170 students and 30 parents attended these workshops.
Spark engineering camp, Australia
Spark is a week-long residential camp held during the June-July school holidays that inspire students underrepresented in tertiary education to pursue science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) careers. Orica have committed $75,000 over 3 years to this project.
Spark’s target demographics are underrepresented at tertiary education level in the STEM fields. These students do not have reliable access to support or information about university pathways or the ways they can overcome their barriers to pursue university. Existing solutions lack empathy and, often, fail to consider the students’ backgrounds and personalities.
Students who attend Spark gain courage to overcome challenges, through interaction with universities and industry. A range of hands-on STEM focused activities grow students’ enthusiasm about pursuing STEM degrees. This is complemented by informational sessions on how to apply to university and for scholarships and special exemption pathways, making pursuing university seem achievable.
Melbourne Spark engineering camp
The Supertee project, Australia
This year, Orica donated $50,000 to the FairFight Foundation, supporting the Supertee project which makes medical garments for sick children. Our teams across Melbourne, Newcastle and Brisbane in Australia participated in packing events, with over 1,000 Supertees distributed to children’s hospitals and Ronald McDonald House Charities across the country.
Our Kurri Kurri team supporting a Supertee packing event
Arbor Day, USA
Orica has committed $216,000 over three years to the Arbor Day Foundation, whose aim is to plant 500 million trees by 2027 across the globe.
This year, the first replanting effort was in Nashville, the United States. The event helped restore hundreds of trees lost around Meigs Magnet Middle School, a public housing community at Parkway Terrace and Frederick Douglass Park. This green infrastructure will help the community address noise and poor air quality from the adjacent interstate highway as the reforestation and environmental rejuvenation efforts continue.
In consultation with the Arbor Day Foundation, key areas impacted by natural disasters have been identified in several areas where Orica currently operates including Tennessee, Kentucky, Colorado in the United States and British Columbia in Canada. These areas will host reforestation, tree planting, and tree giveaway events in the coming year.
Our team in North America supporting the Nashville Tree Foundation
Bohermeen bog flora and fauna, Ireland
In Ireland, we are supporting the Bohermeen Bog Development Group, a group of passionate locals attempting to stop illegal rubbish dumping around the Bohermeen bog, Ireland. Through local council funding, they have placed barriers to stop travellers from using the area as a campsite.
Bohermeen bog is a raised bog and listed under the European Commission Habitat Directive. It is home to a highly threatened butterfly, the Marsh Fritillary (Euphydryas aurinia), which is Ireland’s only protected butterfly. While one protected species has been identified, it is likely other flora and fauna inhabiting the area could also be species at risk of extinction. Orica has granted $10,900 towards a survey identifying flora and fauna in the area, which is the first step in the long-term preservation of the area.
Ireland
Banti pre-school impact funding, Indonesia
Orica and PT Freeport Indonesia with the support of the Orica Imact Fund (OIF), provided $15,000 of materials to the Honai Belajar (Learning Hut) project. The initiative aims to provide school materials- including uniforms, colouring books, pencils, crayons, tables, chairs, whiteboards and backpacks (with water bottle and lunch box) – to the local remote villages of Banti I and II and Opitawak, Indonesia.
With no schools for preschool children, Banti I and II and Opitawak’s children have no access to education until they are seven years old, where they travel more than 90 kilometres to Timika for schooling. Currently, Freeport is constructing a hospital with plans to build a preschool afterward to address the lack of educational opportunities in the area. With pupil attendances of around 15 per day and 70 per week we are helping lay the foundations for a better future.
Orica staff and local community supporting the Honai Belajar Project
Drinking water reservoir, Peru
This year, we co-funded a project to construct a drinking water reservoir in Arequipa, Peru. Our contribution of $38,000 along with support from the District of Uchumayo will assist 604 residents currently without access to clean drinking water.
Inputs, such as gate valves, air valves and other accessories were delivered for the completion of the second drinking water line, from the groundwater collection point to the reservoirs.
Partnering for progress
To learn more visit Who We Are.
Smith Family
Joining forces with The Smith Family in 2014, Orica’s goal is to improve the educational prospects for children and young people experiencing inequality caused by poverty in the communities we operate in.
Orica proudly supports the Learning for Life program and continues to host the Work Inspiration programs.
STEM Punks®
GroundProbe has joined forces with Orica and STEM Punks® to teach science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) to schools and communities in Latin America.
STEM Punks® was awarded $300,000 over three years through the Orica Impact Fund to deliver the highly successful STEM Punks® program to more than 10 regional schools in Peru, Colombia, and Chile. The program will assist in the upskilling of a core group of local educators through the widespread school-community uptake of the program.
YCAB Foundation
In this technological era, being skilled in STEM is becoming increasingly important to national economies and relevant in everyday lives. But in Indonesia, females account for only two per cent of total students in STEM-based Vocational High Schools.
The YCAB project has been developed to provide innovative online training and mentorship to 100 high school science teachers and 7,000 female students to inspire them to pursue careers in the STEM industry.
Hydrogen to ammonia research and development project
In FY2022 we completed a research and development project with CSIRO funded by ARENA. The project demonstrated the conversion of hydrogen to ammonia at significantly lower pressures than conventional processes, thus requiring lower energy inputs.
Kooragang Island abatement project
This $37 million public-private partnership is installing nitrous oxide abatement technology at our Kooragang Island site in Australia. The project will reduce KI’s emissions by close to 50 per cent and contribute to a government target to reduce New South Wales (NSW) emissions by 50 per cent by 2030. The project is made possible through co-investment from the NSW Government and financing from the CEFC.
To learn more, visit our news and media page.
Port of Newcastle
The purpose of the Clean Energy Precinct is to establish a clean energy economy in the Hunter Region and accelerate the demand for the economy. Port of Newcastle will enable the new clean energy economy by forming connections across infrastructure, markets and people. Our Kooragang Island manufacturing site is the only ammonia plant operating on Australia’s east coast with direct access to a deep-water port and the Port of Newcastle’s Clean Energy Precinct. Opportunities are currently being explored for ammonia storage and a potential domestic and international terminal located on the Clean Energy Precinct.
To learn more, visit our news and media page.
Alpha HPA
Orica and Alpha HPA entered an agreement relating to the supply and offtake of reagents and process by-products at their adjacent facilities in Yarwun, Australia. This leverages process synergies that exist between the two companies. Alpha HPA’s proprietary technology requires reagents manufactured by Orica, producing a waste by-product that is highly complementary to our existing processes at Yarwun. Orica acquired a five per cent equity interest in Alpha HPA in November 2022. We are currently exploring opportunities with Alpha HP in North America.
Hunter Valley Hydrogen Hub
We signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Origin Energy to conduct a feasibility study into the viability of a renewable hydrogen production facility and downstream value chain opportunities. The partnership will assess opportunities to collaborate on the development of a renewable hydrogen production facility and associated value chain in the Hunter Valley, Australia.
MCi Carbon joint venture
With the Australian and New South Wales (NSW) governments, we have invested in clean technology start-up MCi since 2013. MCi has developed a scalable carbon capture technology that reacts waste CO2 with alkaline materials to produce carbonate products for use in construction, manufacturing and consumer markets. A demonstration plant is under construction at our Kooragang Island site in Australia, expected for completion in FY2024.
H2-Hub
Orica has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with H2-Hub on a master plan study where both parties will explore opportunities for an exclusive domestic renewable ammonia offtake and supply agreement. The potential agreement would see renewable ammonia supplied directly to Orica’s Yarwun manufacturing plant from H2U’s proposed Yarwun green ammonia production plant in Australia.
To learn more, visit Hunter Valley Hydrogen Hub.
Australian Industry Energy Transitions Initiative
Orica joins some of Australian industry’s biggest companies in support of the Australian Industry Energy Transitions Initiative (Australian Industry ETI), to work together to develop pathways and action towards emissions reductions across critical supply chains. Convened by not-for-profit bodies ClimateWorks Australia and Climate-KIC Australia, the initiative will focus on opportunities across five supply chains – steel, aluminium, liquified natural gas, other metals (lithium, copper and nickel) and chemicals (including explosives and fertiliser).
Power Purchase Agreement (PPA)
In 2022, we signed a Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) for renewable electricity generated from Wellington North solar farm in New South Wales (NSW), Australia. The solar farm is anticipated to supply around 50 per cent of our Australian electricity needs which will reduce Orica’s global Scope 2 emissions by over 60,000 metric tonnes of carbon emissions annually.