N2 APPLIED AS

Their core work

N2 Applied is a Norwegian deep-tech SME that builds on-farm plasma reactors which pull nitrogen straight out of the air and lock it into slurry or organic waste, turning manure into a stable, nitrate-rich fertiliser. The technology replaces imported synthetic fertiliser with a locally produced alternative while cutting ammonia losses and methane emissions from stored manure. Their machines are designed to sit on the farm itself, so a single dairy or biogas operation can close its own nitrogen loop instead of relying on Haber-Bosch supply chains. In short, they convert a pollution problem (manure off-gassing) into a farm input (fertiliser) using electricity and air.

What they specialise in

How they've shifted over time

Both H2020 projects started in 2020 and revolve around the same core plasma technology, so the shift is one of scope rather than direction. The earlier framing (Sustainable Manure) emphasises policy and environmental drivers — the Nitrates Directive, Farm to Fork, Green Deal, food security — positioning the technology as a climate-action lever. The later framing (SmartNitroFarm) drops the policy vocabulary and talks instead about fertiliser, nitrogen, and organic waste management, which reads as a move from problem-framing toward product-framing as the company prepared to scale.

They are moving from a policy-driven climate pitch toward a concrete fertiliser-product business, which makes them interesting for partners who want to pilot or distribute the technology rather than co-develop it.

How they like to work

N2 Applied coordinated both of its H2020 projects and worked with a small circle of only four partners across four countries, which is typical of an SME-led innovation project rather than a large research consortium. They clearly prefer to sit in the driver's seat and keep the technical core in-house while pulling in a few targeted partners, most likely for field trials, agronomy, or market validation. Expect them to be decisive on technology direction and to treat partners as commercial or demonstration collaborators rather than co-inventors.

A compact network of 4 partners across 4 countries, consistent with SME-instrument demonstration projects rather than a broad European research consortium. The base is Norwegian, with collaborations extended into EU member states for piloting.

What sets them apart

Very few companies in Europe have a working plasma nitrogen-fixation unit aimed at individual farms — most nitrogen-fixation research sits inside universities or large industrial groups tied to Haber-Bosch economics. N2 Applied is unusual because it is a Norwegian SME that coordinates its own EU projects, owns the hardware, and targets the farm itself as the point of production. If you want to pilot decentralised fertiliser production, integrate it with biogas or slurry handling, or test emissions reductions on real livestock operations, they are one of the very few credible technology providers to talk to.

Highlights from their portfolio

• SmartNitroFarm
  Their flagship project at EUR 2.5M under the SME-2 instrument — essentially the scale-up and market-deployment vehicle for the plasma fertiliser unit.
• Sustainable Manure
  A smaller IA-funded project framing the same technology around manure emissions and the Nitrates Directive, useful as the environmental-impact evidence base.