Hydrogen

The consortium partners behind an export-scale green hydrogen and ammonia production facility planned for north Queensland will advance the mega project from concept to feasibility stage after signing a formal heads of agreement.

The Queensland government has reaffirmed that Singapore-headquartered Keppel Infrastructure has joined the consortium of Australian and Japanese energy companies seeking to develop a 3 GW renewable hydrogen project near Gladstone on the central Queensland coast.

The New South Wales Hunter region, for decades a hub for coal and steel industries, has been tapped to play a major role in Australia’s decarbonised energy future with the federal government announcing it will invest $70 million (USD 47.58 million) to further the development of a green hydrogen manufacturing hub in the region.

Countrywide Hydrogen said it is progressing towards a final investment decision on three green hydrogen projects planned for Tasmania following the selection of the suppliers to provide the electrolyser systems and storage technology and the appointment of a construction contractor.

Resources giant Rio Tinto will team with Japanese industrial heavyweight Sumitomo Corporation to build a green hydrogen production plant on Queensland’s central coast as part of a $111 million (USD 74.64 million) ‘world first’ project which aims to lower carbon emissions from the alumina refining process.

An international consortium planning to build a 50 GW renewable energy hub in Australia’s southwest has signed an early agreement with Korea’s largest electricity utility to advance the development of what would be one of the world’s largest green hydrogen production facilities.

Consultation is now open on the design of the federal government’s $2 billion (USD 1.33 billion) Hydrogen Headstart program that is aimed at bridging “the commercial gap for early projects” and placing Australia on course to develop 1 GW of electrolyser capacity by 2030 through two to three flagship projects.

China’s Sinopec has switched on the world’s largest solar-to-hydrogen project in Xinjiang, while India has unveiled a new plan to incentivize green hydrogen and electrolyzer production.

Construction of what is shaping to be Tasmania’s first operational commercial-scale renewable hydrogen production facility is to commence in the coming weeks after Line Hydrogen secured development approval for its 7.6 MW George Town green hydrogen project.

Scientists led by the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology have designed panel-like photoreactors relying on a water-splitting photocatalyst that could produce hydrogen on rooftops or dedicated solar farms. They claim the photoreactors have high economic potential because of their ‘extremely’ low costs.