Amogy CEO on Driving the Ammonia-to-Power Revolution – A ChemAnalyst Interview

ChemAnalyst Talks with Seonghoon Woo, Chief Executive Officer, Amogy

Amogy, a U.S.-based clean energy technology company, is advancing the decarbonization of hard-to-abate sectors such as power generation, maritime shipping, and heavy industry through its proprietary ammonia-to-power systems. Its patented ammonia cracking technology offers a scalable and highly efficient solution to produce clean hydrogen, enabling carbon-free energy generation and supporting the global transition toward net-zero emissions. ChemAnalyst spoke with Seonghoon Woo, Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder of Amogy, about the company’s strategic partnerships with KBR and Singapore’s A*STAR to accelerate ammonia-to-hydrogen and ammonia-to-power deployments, the innovations behind its low-ruthenium catalyst technology, and the scalability of its modular systems. Woo also discussed Amogy’s focus on leveraging existing global ammonia infrastructure, ensuring safety and regulatory compliance, and positioning ammonia as a key enabler of the hydrogen economy and a cornerstone of the clean energy transition by 2050.

Complete Interview with Seonghoon Woo

Q: Please provide an overview of your professional journey and leadership experience in the clean energy and technology sectors, and how these experiences have shaped your strategic vision for Amogy’s role in advancing the global hydrogen economy.

Seonghoon Woo: I began my career with a focus on materials science and semiconductor physics, completing my Ph.D. at MIT and later working at IBM. In 2020, I reconnected with former colleagues from MIT who shared a vision to address one of the biggest challenges of our time – decarbonizing heavy-duty transportation. That collaboration became the foundation for Amogy.

At Amogy, our vision is to enable a practical, scalable clean energy transition by leveraging ammonia’s unique potential as a hydrogen carrier and clean fuel. My goal is to build Amogy into a global leader in ammonia-to-power technology, delivering pragmatic and cost-effective solutions that advance the hydrogen economy and accelerate the global energy transition.

Q: Amogy has announced a Memorandum of Understanding with KBR to advance ammonia-to-hydrogen solutions. What were the key drivers behind this collaboration, and how does it align with Amogy’s long-term decarbonization strategy?

Seonghoon Woo: Our collaboration with KBR represents a strategic alignment between two companies in clean hydrogen technology. Amogy’s innovative ammonia cracking catalyst technology complements KBR’s decades of process engineering expertise and its leadership in proven hydrogen and ammonia platforms. Through this partnership, we will integrate Amogy’s proprietary catalysts into KBR’s industrial-scale ammonia cracking systems to enable more efficient hydrogen production from ammonia. The main driver behind this collaboration is the potential for scale and meaningful impact. Together, we aim to accelerate the deployment of ammonia-based technology solutions that seamlessly integrate into existing industrial operations – reducing carbon intensity, lowering costs, and advancing global decarbonization goals.

Q: Could you elaborate on how Amogy’s proprietary Ruthenium-based ammonia cracking catalysts complement KBR’s H2ACT® and H2KPlus™ hydrogen production platforms, and what specific outcomes you aim to achieve through this partnership?

Seonghoon Woo: Amogy’s Low-Ruthenium catalysts are highly efficient, durable and cost-effective, exhibiting high conversion of ammonia at lower temperatures than conventional alternatives. When combined with KBR’s hydrogen process platforms, this enables more compact and energy-efficient systems. Our goal is to deliver solutions that reduce both operational costs and carbon intensity, providing industrial users and offshore operators with clean hydrogen on demand, without the need for new infrastructure.

Q: From a commercial and technological standpoint, how does this collaboration enhance the scalability and economic viability of ammonia cracking for industrial and offshore hydrogen applications?

Seonghoon Woo: Our partnership with KBR is about scaling ammonia’s role as a global hydrogen carrier. By integrating Amogy’s cutting-edge catalyst technology with KBR’s proven hydrogen solutions with extensive experience, we’re driving greater scalability and cost efficiency for an integrated system that enables clean hydrogen delivery where it’s needed most – from major industrial centers to offshore platforms. This partnership reinforces the commercial potential of ammonia cracking by enhancing efficiency, reducing costs, and speeding up large-scale deployment.

Q: Amogy recently signed an MoU with Singapore’s Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR). How will this partnership accelerate the deployment of ammonia-to-power systems in Singapore and support the country’s National Hydrogen Strategy?

Seonghoon Woo: Our partnership with A*STAR is an important step toward demonstrating the potential of ammonia-based power systems in Singapore’s clean energy transition. Through this collaboration, we’ll jointly explore R&D, piloting, and scaling of ammonia-to-power technologies on Jurong Island, focusing on real-world validation, safety, and performance.

Supporting the decarbonization of Singapore’s rapidly expanding data center industry will be a key area of focus. Singapore, like many other countries, is facing a major clean energy challenge due to the continuous and growing power demand. By combing A*STAR’s deep expertise in sustainable energy R&D and safety standards, we aim to develop scalable, low to zero-carbon solutions for high-intensity energy users.

This partnership supports Singapore’s National Hydrogen Strategy and its goal to achieve net zero emissions by 2050. It also positions the country as a regional hub for ammonia-powered innovation across data centers and other energy-intensive sectors.

Q: What are the key technical, regulatory, or safety challenges that the Amogy–A*STAR collaboration seeks to address as you pilot ammonia-to-power systems on Jurong Island?

Seonghoon Woo: The collaboration focuses on tackling safety risks in ammonia handling, validating Amogy’s technology under real-world industrial conditions, and aligning system design with Singapore’s regulatory and sustainability goals to enable large-scale, low-carbon ammonia-to-power deployment.

Q: Amogy’s ammonia cracking catalysts are reported to be up to 70% more efficient than other commercially available alternatives. Could you highlight the key innovations behind this performance advantage and their implications for hydrogen production efficiency?

Seonghoon Woo: Amogy’s ammonia-cracking catalysts achieve up to 70% higher efficiency than commercial alternatives through innovations in both unique catalyst material design and operating performance. By optimizing precious and base metal formulations, Amogy enables ammonia to crack at significantly lower temperatures while maintaining high hydrogen yield and conversion rates. The catalysts are engineered for durability and stability at commercial-scale, verified through extensive aging and mechanical testing, which reduces maintenance and operating costs.

Q: Your ammonia-to-power systems deliver up to 35% higher reforming efficiency and are designed to be modular and scalable. How does this design flexibility enable Amogy to serve diverse industries such as maritime, power generation, and heavy industry?

Seonghoon Woo: Amogy’s modular and scalable design enables its ammonia-to-power system to adapt to a wide range of power requirements and operating environments. Smaller units in the 1–5 MW range can serve mobile or distributed applications such as port power and maritime vessels, while larger configurations upto 10–40 MW are suited for industrial facilities or grid-scale power generation. This inherent flexibility allows seamless integration across diverse sectors – all built upon the same high-efficiency core technology.

Q: Amogy has achieved multiple world firsts—from ammonia-powered drones and tractors to trucks and vessels. What lessons have these demonstrations provided in terms of real-world deployment, system integration, and safety validation?

Seonghoon Woo: Each of our demonstration projects, from the drone and tractor to the truck and the NH3 Kraken tugboat, has provided invaluable lessons in bringing ammonia-powered technology from the lab to real-world operation. The NH3Kraken showcased ammonia’s promise as a clean, safe, and efficient fuel – proving our system’s real-world performance in the demanding conditions of marine operations.

These efforts also deepened our experience navigating regulatory and safety frameworks. Working closely with the U.S. Coast Guard, we helped adapt existing LNG and LHG protocol to accommodate ammonia, establishing precedents that now support broader adoption. Together, these technical and regulatory milestones have strengthened our readiness for large-scale commercial deployment across power generation, heavy industry, and transportation.

Q: As the technology eliminates the need for diesel pilot fuels in hydrogen engines, how significant is this breakthrough for decarbonizing hard-to-abate sectors, and what commercial applications are next in line for scaling?

Seonghoon Woo: By removing the need for diesel pilot fuels, Amogy’s systems achieve truly carbon-free operation. This is a major breakthrough for hard-to-abate sectors like shipping and heavy transport, where diesel has historically been indispensable. The next phase of scaling targets stationary power generation – an area with an urgent need for reliable, clean energy in both grid-connected and remote applications.

Q: With ammonia infrastructure already well-established globally, how does Amogy plan to leverage existing supply chains to accelerate adoption of ammonia-based hydrogen as a clean energy carrier?

Seonghoon Woo: Amogy’s strategy is deeply rooted in the recognition that ammonia already benefits from a well-established global infrastructure. This includes more than 200 ports and 500 vessels equipped to handle ammonia worldwide, and more than 4,000 kilometers of pipelines in the U.S. alone. Rather than building new systems from scratch, Amogy’s technology is designed to plug directly into existing global ammonia infrastructure, enabling practical and timely deployment at ports, industrial sites, and power hubs where ammonia is already handled.

This approach significantly reduces upfront investment, accelerates deployment, and enhances energy security by repurposing legacy infrastructure for clean energy use. However, since ammonia has historically been treated as a cargo or industrial chemical, unlocking its full potential as a fuel requires a shift in mindset. This shift will involve educating stakeholders about ammonia’s role in the clean energy transition, addressing skepticism around safety and emissions, and working with regulatory bodies globally to solidify proper standards.

Q: How does Amogy ensure that its systems meet the highest safety and performance standards, particularly as you collaborate with OEMs, classification societies, and regulatory bodies across different markets?

Seonghoon Woo: Amogy ensures the highest safety and performance standards through a rigorous, collaborative approach. Safety is a core company value, embedded in every stage of design, testing, and deployment. The company works closely with regulatory bodies and classification societies to align its ammonia-to-power systems with all technical, environmental, and emissions requirements. Amogy validates performance through real-world demonstrations across industries and maintains strict compliance with international safety frameworks to guarantee reliable, scalable, and regulatory-approved operations worldwide.

Q: What is Amogy’s broader outlook for the next five years in terms of technology commercialization, market expansion, and partnerships to strengthen the global hydrogen value chain?

Seonghoon Woo: It’s only been about five years since Amogy was founded, and we’re extremely proud of what we’ve achieved in that relatively short time. Amogy started as a bold idea among a small group of people. And in five short years, we developed and scaled the technology, raised funding from global leaders in the energy transition, proved the viability of the technology in several real-world demonstrations, and started forging partnerships with world leaders in industries ranging from shipbuilding to industrial machinery, to datacenters. We’re well on our way toward full commercialization and remain committed to advancing at the same rapid pace over the next five years as we have over the past five – expanding our technology’s reach and impact across global markets.  

Q: How does Amogy view the competitive landscape in ammonia cracking and ammonia-to-power technologies, and what differentiates your approach in terms of innovation, scalability, and total cost of ownership?

Seonghoon Woo: Our system converts liquid ammonia into hydrogen and nitrogen, with the hydrogen fed directly into a hydrogen engine or fuel cell to generate clean electricity. While ammonia cracking has existed for decades, Amogy’s breakthrough lies in its proprietary low-temperature catalyst and high-efficiency chemical reactor, which together deliver a compact, efficient, and flexible ammonia-to-power solution suited for both onboard and stationary applications. Unlike hybrid systems that still depend on diesel or pilot fuels, Amogy’s technology enables truly zero-emission operation. Importantly, we view other ammonia-based power innovations not as competitors but as complementary efforts – each contributing to the broader advancement of an ammonia-enabled hydrogen economy and the acceleration of the global energy transition.

Q: Looking ahead, how do you envision ammonia’s role evolving within the broader clean energy ecosystem, particularly as the world transitions toward net-zero emissions by 2050?

Seonghoon Woo: Ammonia will evolve from being seen as a niche alternative fuel to becoming a core enabler of global decarbonization. Its ability to store and transport clean energy at scale will make it indispensable for regions with high energy demand. By 2050, I see ammonia serving as both a direct zero-carbon fuel for heavy industry and transport, and as a bridge for the hydrogen economy, solving key challenges around storage, logistics, and cost.

Q: Finally, what is your long-term vision for Amogy’s contribution to the global decarbonization journey, and how will continued collaboration with partners like KBR, A*STAR, and leading industrial players help realize that vision?

Seonghoon Woo: As we look to the future, Amogy’s priority is turning our technology into practical, commercial solutions that deliver real impact. One of the most promising areas is stationary power generation, where industries and remote operations are urgently searching for dependable, emissions-free alternatives to diesel. This is just the beginning. Over time, our broader ambition is to see ammonia play a defining role in the clean energy landscape, serving as a key enabler for global decarbonization of various hard-to-abate sectors.

Reaching that goal will require more than innovation – it demands strong partnerships and a shared commitment to change. By collaborating with organizations such as KBR, A*STAR, and other industry leaders, we’re uniting complementary expertise across engineering, research, large-scale deployment, and project execution. These partnerships accelerate our progress from pilot projects to commercial operations, enable continuous improvement through real-world validation, and help build the infrastructure needed to establish ammonia as a practical, scalable energy carrier. Together, through these collective efforts, we’re working to reshape the global energy landscape and drive the transition toward a zero-carbon future.

ChemAnalyst Insights on Ammonia

In North America, the ammonia market experienced a notable quarter marked by tightening supply and robust fertilizer demand. The U.S. market saw increased activity driven by seasonal agricultural requirements and ongoing industrial consumption. Spot prices displayed considerable volatility, with sharp rallies in late August before stabilizing toward the end of the quarter. Supply constraints were largely attributed to production outages, shifting import dynamics, and logistical challenges that limited spot availability. Despite relatively low natural gas benchmarks helping to moderate production costs, feedstock risks and infrastructure disruptions added uncertainty to overall cost trends. Inventories across key agricultural regions remained tight, heightening market sensitivity to supply chain disturbances and export fluctuations. Looking ahead, demand is expected to remain firm as the autumn fertilizer season progresses and restocking activity continues, supporting a positive near-term outlook for the North American ammonia market.