Amogy and HCE test ammonia power: modular project takeaways for power engineers
Reviewed by Tom Sullivan
First reported on The Construction Index
30 Second Briefing
Amogy and HD Construction Equipment have completed Houston trials pairing Amogy’s AMMDrive ammonia-cracking unit with HCE’s 22-litre HX22 hydrogen engine generator, rated up to 600 kW, in what they call the first US operation of an HCE hydrogen engine on ammonia-derived fuel. The exact configuration is planned for a distributed power project in Pohang, South Korea, starting with a 1 MW demonstration in Q2 2027. Capacity is intended to scale to 40 MW by 2029 via parallel reformer modules and generator sets, with a modular design aimed at future installations above 100 MW.
Technical Brief
- AMMDrive unit cracks liquid ammonia on site into a hydrogen-rich fuel stream for combustion.
- Hydrogen stream is fed directly into HCE’s HX22 generator set without intermediate storage or compression.
- Testing took place at Amogy’s ATHENA facility in Houston, providing a controlled stationary power environment.
- Trial provides HCE with a first operating reference for the HX22 using ammonia-derived hydrogen fuel.
- For Amogy, results mark progression of its modular stationary power systems from validation testing toward commercial deployment.
Our Take
The 1 MW ATHENA/Pohang demonstration scaling to a targeted 40 MW by 2029 puts Amogy and HCE into the same size class as small grid-support or mine-site power plants, signalling that ammonia-to-power is being pitched as a primary rather than purely auxiliary power source for heavy infrastructure users.
With HD Construction Equipment already appearing in our coverage via its cross-distribution deal with Manitou for Hyundai and Develon machines (Sept 2026), integrating Amogy’s ammonia system into a 22-litre, 600 kW platform could give HCE an early low-carbon option across both construction and port equipment fleets.
Among recent Infrastructure–Sustainability pieces, there are relatively few that target >40 MW modular units, so this >100 MW potential capacity trajectory suggests Amogy is positioning ammonia power to compete directly with LNG and diesel gensets for large industrial loads in hubs like Houston and Pohang.
Prepared by collating external sources, AI-assisted tools, and Geomechanics.io’s proprietary mining database, then reviewed for technical accuracy & edited by our geotechnical team.
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