The Northern Territory government announced on Monday it has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with French renewables developer Total Eren to progress plans for a new gigawatt-scale green hydrogen production facility in Darwin.
The proposed Darwin H2 Hub, to be built on a 4,000-hectare site near the Territory capital, would include more than 2 GW of solar PV providing energy for a 1 GW electrolyser to produce more than 80,000 tonnes of hydrogen per annum.
NT Chief Minister Natasha Fyles said the Darwin H2 Hub would target both the domestic and international markets, helping the territory to stake a claim in Australia’s rapidly growing green hydrogen industry.
“With our abundant solar resources and our strategic location to support exports into the Indo-Pacific, the production of green hydrogen is a key opportunity for the territory to address the growing demand for this green energy globally,” she said.
“The signing of this MoU will help position the territory as the next Australian home of renewable hydrogen production.”
Total Eren Australia’s managing director Kam Ho said the partnership reinforced the company’s commitments to invest in Australia and low carbon energy sources.
“Our plan is to accelerate the development of the project to supply green hydrogen and also the opportunity to provide renewable energy which supports the decarbonisation plans for energy-intensive industries in the territory,” he said.
Image: Coliban Water
Headquartered in Paris, Total Eren has more than 3.5 GW of renewable energy assets in operation or under construction worldwide. It announced its entry into the Australian market in 2018 with the development of the 256 MW Kiamal Solar Farm in Victoria.
Late last year it added another project to its pipeline, signing an MoU with Australian mining firm Province Resources to progress plans for a massive 8 GW green hydrogen facility in Western Australia.
The feasibility study for the HyEnergy green hydrogen export project was this week submitted to the WA government for final review. The study analysed the export of 200,000 tonnes per annum of green hydrogen from the project in the Gascoyne region into Asia-Pacific, with a focus on delivery into Singapore.
Total Eren chief executive officer David Corchia said the green hydrogen projects are part of the company’s ambition to position itself at the forefront of the development of the hydrogen sector, describing it is the next step of growth of renewable energies.
“Total Eren has made the strategic decision more than two years ago to develop multi-GW wind and solar projects in locations benefiting from exceptional natural resources,” he said. “Those projects will aim at delivering clean and reliable energy sources in the form of hydrogen or its derivatives.”
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