Atmonia aims to commercialize a 40-foot container producing 150 tons of green ammonia per year, betting decentralized production can undercut the carbon-heavy Haber-Bosch process that still supplies most nitrogen fertilizer.

Founded in 2016 and headquartered in Iceland, the company has patented single-step electrochemical catalysts developed over the past decade. Cofounder and CEO Helga Dögg Flosadóttir outlined the scale-up roadmap at the World Agri-Tech innovation summit in London.

How does the technology work?

Atmonia's nitrogen electrolyzer is a modified anion exchange membrane (AEM) unit fitted with a proprietary gas diffusion electrode. "This is single-step ammonia production from nitrogen and water so we do not need to produce or store any hydrogen," Flosadóttir said. "We just have a simple system for ammonia production, rather than hydrogen first and then ammonia."

The catalysts were designed through density functional theory and quantum chemical simulations, with reaction sites that selectively attract nitrogen over water and hydrogen. "Most other catalysts favor hydrogen production over nitrogen reduction," she noted. The catalysts draw on abundant raw materials.

What does scale-up look like?

The current electrode covers 10 square centimeters. The next target is 400 square centimeters, then stacking cells into full electrolyzer stacks. "Electrolyzers scale up in two dimensions. We don't scale up in three dimensions," Flosadóttir said.

Atmonia plans to partner with established AEM electrolyzer manufacturers for hardware production while keeping catalyst synthesis and electrode fabrication in-house. Scaling carries unknowns, she cautioned. "There will be, of course, some unknown parameters that we will have to work with and optimize on the way. The nitrogen reduction reaction hasn't been done on that scale yet in an AEM electrolyzer."

What economics are they aiming for?

The 150-ton container should reach viable unit economics at current electricity prices, Flosadóttir said. Atmonia is targeting small-scale on-farm production rather than competing with industrial ammonia plants.

The company will lease units to growers to remove equipment-cost barriers. "We could saturate the market in Iceland with 80 containers, so the market in Iceland is limited," Flosadóttir said. Atmonia will localize manufacturing near end-user markets, she added, taking the technology global.

Who has funded it so far?

Grant capital has carried the company through its first decade, Flosadóttir said, drawn from:

• Icelandic research bodies
• The European Innovation Council
• Horizon Europe

Icelandic venture capitalists and Canadian agriculture angels joined in later rounds. Atmonia has now opened a seed round, seeking agritech and deep-tech investors comfortable with longer timelines than conventional venture capital.

The round is sized to take the technology to TRL-6, where an on-farm prototype can be demonstrated. "We've demonstrated the chemistry, which took us 10 years of research. And now we're optimizing the energy demand," Flosadóttir said. The company targets that energy-demand milestone before the end of next year, then begins commercial-scale-up work with AEM partners.