# MHI awards Saipem urea technology licence for new Turkmenistan fertiliser plant

> The technology and engineering scope covers a planned 3,500-tonne-per-day urea unit using the Snamprogetti process.

- Topic: Contract award
- Event date: 2026-03-20
- First published on EPC Feed: 2026-10-28T18:18:08.936Z
- Updated: 2026-10-28T18:18:08.936Z
- Companies: Saipem
- Countries: Turkmenistan
- Page: https://epcfeed.com/news/mhi-saipem-snamprogetti-urea-licence-turkmenistan-2026


Mitsubishi Heavy Industries has awarded Saipem a licence and associated engineering services for a new urea unit in Turkmenistan. Saipem announced the agreement on 20 March 2026. The planned unit has a capacity of 3,500 tonnes per day and will use the company's proprietary Snamprogetti process. The disclosed assignment concerns process technology and its engineering package; it does not establish that Saipem has received a full engineering, procurement and construction contract for the entire fertiliser development.

The announcement places the award within an existing relationship between the companies. Saipem previously supplied technology for the Garabogazkarbamid fertiliser complex in Garabogaz under an MHI award made in 2014. That complex was commissioned in 2018, with Mitsubishi and Gap Insaat Yatirim ve Dis Ticaret participating in its delivery. This is historical context for the new agreement, rather than confirmation that the new unit occupies the same site or repeats the earlier construction arrangement.

At the time of the release, Saipem said the Snamprogetti process had been applied in 147 urea units worldwide. That is an attributed company figure, not a count independently reconstructed by EPC Feed. It should also remain separate from the operating status of the newly announced plant. A technology licence for a planned installation does not mean that installation has already entered production or can be included as a newly commissioned unit.

The wider relationship also includes a 2023 General License Agreement concerning MHI's KM CDR Process and Advanced KM CDR Process for large-scale carbon-capture applications. That cooperation provides additional context but is not described as part of the newly awarded urea unit's scope. EPC Feed therefore does not treat this announcement as evidence that the new fertiliser plant includes a particular carbon-capture package, emissions performance or integration arrangement.

For project tracking, the useful distinction is between a defined process-technology award and the undisclosed boundaries of the wider development. The new licence establishes a technology choice and associated engineering activity. Further information would be needed to identify the site, construction schedule, overall project value and allocation of execution responsibilities. Those details should be recorded when disclosed, without filling the gaps using the location, dates or delivery partners of the earlier Turkmenistan project.

## Sources

1. [Saipem’s Urea Technology for a New Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd. Fertilizer Plant in Turkmenistan](https://www.saipem.com/en/media/news/Saipem-s-Urea-Technology-for-a-New-Mitsubishi-Heavy-Industries-Ltd-Fertilizer-Plant-in-Turkmenistan). Company release, Saipem, Published 2026-03-20, Read 2026-10-28.