Strategic Alliances

Prospective hydrogen projects in the Northern Territory are taking new shape with Monday’s news that FRV Australia, partially owned by now Saudi company Fotowatio Renewable Ventures, had signed an agreement with Australia’s Hexagon Energy. It seems the two companies are considering connecting the hydrogen projects they’ve been separately exploring near Darwin, though it’s worth noting Hexagon is hoping to export blue (fossil) hydrogen.

Western Australian vanadium explorer Technology Metals Australia and Japanese vanadium redox flow battery producer LE System have decided to tighten their relationship with an expanded Memorandum of Understanding that could see the construction of Australia’s first fully integrated vanadium electrolyte plant proximate to renewable energy hubs and major Australian population centres.

The Suiso Frontier cargo vessel docked at Victoria’s Port of Hastings on Friday to take on the world’s first shipment of liquid hydrogen. The ship’s arrival is a landmark for the Japanese-Australian Hydrogen Energy Supply Chain pilot project, which sees liquefied hydrogen generated from brown coal, and an engineering milestone in itself. But while the Australian government describes the product as “clean”, experts maintain that carbon capture and storage technology has proven only to be an expensive failure.

Electric vehicle giant Tesla has inked an offtake deal with Australian miner Syrah Resources to supply battery-ready graphite as concerns over raw materials shortages continue.

Fortescue Future Industries has taken another step toward its global green hydrogen ambitions with the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding with Germany polymer company Covestro for the equivalent of 100,000 tonnes of solar-sourced green hydrogen and its derivatives annually, starting as early as 2024.

Japanese trading house Sojitz Corporation has announced it will collaborate with Queensland government-owned utility CS Energy and Nippon Engineering Consultants on a project to transport green hydrogen produced in Australia to the Pacific Island nation of Palau in a bid to reduce a reliance on fossil fuels.

Vehicle manufacturer Foton and gas company BOC have signed an agreement to develop the hydrogen bus sector in Australia and New Zealand, allowing technology they say is already “widely used” around the world to become affordable in a region where it is still nascent.

The investment is planned to support development and construction of Hydrostor’s 1.1GW, 8.7GWh of Advanced Compressed Air Energy Storage projects that are well underway in California and Australia, and help expand Hydrostor’s project development pipeline globally.

The completed acquisition of ClipperCreek launches Enphase Energy into the fast-growing market for electric vehicle charging systems.

Korea Zinc, non-ferrous metal smelting company, has agreed to invest $50 million in Energy Vault, a Switzerland-based gravity storage specialist, in order to use its tech to decarbonise its refining and smelting operations in Australia.