AGN, part of Australian Gas Infrastructure Group (AGIG), has announced it will expand its renewable hydrogen capacity, partnering in two new project bids submitted to the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) last month.
AGIG chief executive officer Ben Wilson said AGN will partner with French renewables giant Engie to develop a 10 MW renewable hydrogen project in Victoria’s Murray Valley and will team with international integrated energy group ATCO to develop a similar project on Western Australia’s northwest coastline.
Wilson said the two projects add to AGIG’s current hydrogen developments in South Australia and Gladstone in Queensland and demonstrates the company’s commitment to target 10% renewable hydrogen by 2030 into its Australia-wide network which provides more than 2 million customers with natural gas.
“Both of these projects are eight times larger than our existing Hydrogen Park South Australia, which is the biggest hydrogen project under commissioning in Australia and one of the largest in the world and demonstrates our commitment to play a leading role in Australia’s renewable hydrogen journey,” he said.
The 10 MW Hydrogen Park Murray Valley (HyP Murray Valley) project will be co-located with the West Wodonga Wastewater Treatment Plant and supply renewable hydrogen blended with natural gas to customers on the existing Albury-Wodonga gas distribution network.
Wilson said the HyP Murray Valley project will put about 40,000 existing residential, commercial and industrial connections in the Albury-Wodonga natural gas distribution network on up to a 10% renewable hydrogen blend while the facility will also be able to supply industry and transport markets.
“Hydrogen Park Murray Valley will be globally significant in terms of market outreach, to around 40,000 connections, and its co-location with a wastewater treatment facility,” he said.
“It will demonstrate sustainable outcomes across the water, gas and electricity sectors.
“It aims to deliver a highly replicable model enabling the decarbonisation of more than 5.2 million gas connections in Australia.”
The HyP Murray Valley bid has been submitted to ARENA alongside the Clean Energy Innovation Park (CEIP) project proposal which will be located alongside renewable electricity generation assets in Waradarge, about 250km north of Perth.
It comprises a 10 MW electrolyser and will be capable of producing 4.0 tonnes of renewable hydrogen per day for use in gas networks, industry and transport.
“The CEIP in Western Australia delivers highly efficient renewable hydrogen production at around 4,000 kg per day,” Wilson said.
“ATCO and AGIG are already significant players in the Western Australia gas market, providing distribution and transmission services respectively, the CEIP joint venture brings together our strengths to establish a commercial hydrogen sector in the state.”
Major milestone for South Australia
The projects come hot on the heels of AGIG announcing a major milestone for its the Hydrogen Park South Australia, with the first production of renewable hydrogen taking place at the facility in December during commissioning of the 1.25 MW electrolyser.
Construction at the plant in the Tonsley Innovation District commenced in late 2019. It was expected to be fully operational by late 2020 but Wilson said the final stages of commissioning were still to be completed.
“We have reforecast our aim to deliver Australia’s first renewable gas blend to households from 2020 to the first quarter of 2021,” he said.
Once operational, more than 700 residences in parts of the Adelaide suburb of Mitchell Park will be the first recipients of the plant’s blended 5% renewable gas.
AGN’s Hydrogen Park Murray Valley and the CEIP were among seven projects invited by ARENA to submit a full application as part of the $70 million Renewable Hydrogen Deployment Funding Round after Expressions of Interest were lodged in May 2020.
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