Amp Energy has secured a three-month extension to its Strategic Framework Agreement with Iron Road that the company expects will provide it with the time required to finalise and execute transaction documents associated with the next phase of the proposed Cape Hardy green hydrogen and ammonia project in South Australia.
In April 2023, Amp won the tender and commenced a nine-month exclusivity period to develop and build an electrolyser and associated ammonia and green hydrogen production facility at Cape Hardy, north of Tumby Bay on South Australia’s Eyre Peninsula. The parties have now extended that period, and in exchange Amp has waived its right to receive a refund of one-third of the $1.5 million (USD 690,000) it paid for the exclusivity agreement.
Amp said the Cape Hardy Green Hydrogen Project will initially comprise 1 GW of electrolyser capacity, growing to 5 GW and capable of producing more than 5 million tons of green ammonia a year. The project’s second stage will see a doubling of this capacity to 10 GW. At full capacity, renewables-based ammonia production is expected to approach 10 million tonnes per annum.
The project will cover approximately one third of the 1,200-hectare site at Cape Hardy controlled by Iron Road, which is concurrently developing a multi-billion-dollar iron export and deep-sea port development project at the site.
While no timeline has been provided for the Cape Hardy project, Amp said it is progressing well with two leading global engineering firms having studied and reviewed the project ahead of it entering the pre–Front-End Engineering Design (pre-FEED) stage.
Amp said preliminary master planning of the Cape Hardy precinct incorporating electrolyser supply, water desalination, ammonia plant and ancillaries has already been completed and it is continuing advanced discussions with numerous Eyre Peninsula landowners, third party energy developers and transmission network specialists, to secure and transmit renewable energy supply to drive lowest cost of ammonia for domestic and export off-take.
“We have seen a flight to quality from global strategic partners who are looking to partner with projects of scale and we believe the Cape Hardy Green Hydrogen project is strategically well positioned as one of Australia’s flagship hydrogen projects,” Amp President and founder Paul Ezekiel said.
Amp said indicative economic analysis supports an unsubsidised levelised cost of hydrogen of approximately $4.50 (USD 3) per kilogram of hydrogen. This equates to a mid $900 (USD 600) per tonne levelised cost of green ammonia.
“This costing is consistent with the stage of the project and is subject to ongoing design and economic optimisation, that will reflect the evolving commercial and market landscape,” the company said.
South Australian Energy Minister Tom Koutsantonis said the strong progress achieved by the Cape Hardy Green Hydrogen project reflects the momentum of the state’s emerging hydrogen industry.
“In addition to creating thousands of jobs for South Australians, projects like this facility at Cape Hardy contribute to our government’s net zero goals and strengthen the state’s economy,” he said. “Renewable hydrogen has an important role to play as the world transitions to a decarbonised future and South Australia is ideally positioned to capitalise on this opportunity.”
Author: Ev Foley
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It would be good to know if the project proposes to meet the “3 pillars” standard recently required by both the EU and US Treasury for green hydrogen products. In the US the 45V tax credits only apply to projects that:
1. Use carbon-free energy from new renewable projects (additionality)
2. Use carbon-free energy sourced on the same grid (Location)
3. Match their energy consumption to the renewable energy in the same hour it is produced (Time-matching)