en.Wedoany.com Reported - Australian clean technology startup Facet Amtech has received AUD 50,000 from the New South Wales Government's "Minimum Viable Product (MVP) Risk Program" (2025–26 Round 1) to advance the scaled production of its proprietary catalyst, aiming to increase ammonia output from laboratory scale to integrated pilot scale and commercial results. Headquartered in Newcastle, the company is developing a clean ammonia production process based on a novel oxygen-tolerant catalyst that directly converts air and water into ammonia in a single step at low temperature and pressure, eliminating the need for dedicated hydrogen production, air separation, or extensive feedstock purification systems. Facet Amtech believes this technology can significantly reduce the levelized cost of ammonia compared to the Haber-Bosch synthesis method.

At the Asia Pacific Ammonia Energy Conference held in Brisbane, CEO and co-founder Peter Richardson presented the technology progress and development timeline. The company plans to demonstrate the economic and technical feasibility of the process through pilot projects at 1 kg/day, 100 kg/day, and greater than 4 tons/day, ultimately achieving industrial-scale production. Richardson stated that the Haber-Bosch process has been developed and optimized for over 100 years, with diminishing returns from incremental improvements, and that Facet's technology needs to operate at industrial scale to support current and emerging global demand. Within six months, catalyst manufacturing capacity has been expanded 40-fold, reaching 1 kg per week using a bench-top furnace. Manufacturing efforts will continue in 2026, targeting 100 kg per week through industrially scalable equipment. Meanwhile, process design continues to be developed and validated in preparation for the first pilot reactor, whose operation will guide the next stage of scale-up demonstration.