Japan

London-based Eco Energy World, which is already developing at 300 MW solar project north of Gladstone, Queensland, has announced that it is going to combine the solar plant with a 200 MW hydrogen plant and 100 MW of energy storage for green hydrogen exports to the global market.

Japanese scientists are about to launch solid-state batteries into space.

Large swaths of low-cost land: check. Lots of sun and wind: check. The ability to transport green hydrogen cost-effectively to energy importing economies: check. Then you’re in the race to become one of the “renewable energy superpowers” of the low-carbon economy. A growing number of countries are assessing their renewable resources and natural attributes and positioning themselves to become green hydrogen exporters. However, not all are created equal.

Chinese inverter maker Sungrow has switched on a 6 MW / 21 MWh solar-plus-storage facility on the island. The FIT project’s connected AC capacity is limited to only 845 kW, but the containerised storage solution provided by the company ensures its viability.

Moves by Japan’s trading houses to de-risk their upstream portfolios make sense. Faced with falling domestic oil and gas demand and an accelerating energy transition, future E&P investment is far less certain. Strategy reviews are switching focus to new growth areas – covering everything from fintech to pork bellies – with the increasingly diverse businesses of Japan’s trading houses challenging upstream for future capital.   

The Japanese brand will continue to sell third-party-made modules under its brand in its home market, as it already does overseas, but in-house PV wafer, cell and module production will halt by the end of fiscal year 2022.

The Sumitomo Corporation has simultaneously signed a contract with an EPC for a solar-powered green hydrogen production plant in Gladstone, Queensland, while also commencing a feasibility study for a grey-green hybrid hydrogen project in Oman. Considering the relative similarities in distance between the two countries and export markets in East Asia, the Japanese conglomerate looks to be setting the stage for competition in the hydrogen economy.

Fortescue Metals Group Chairman Andrew ‘Twiggy’ Forrest returned to Western Australia last week after a 4-month worldwide search for green energy projects and resources. One of the deals secured on the trip was a circular partnership with South Korean steelmaker Posco. The deal sees Fortescue supply Posco with iron ore, Posco use said ore to make steel, and Fortescue use said steel for renewable energy projects to make green hydrogen.

Engie and ammonia producer Yara have published findings from their long-awaited feasibility study into the development of renewable hydrogen and ammonia at Yara’s Pilbara Fertilisers plant. The study has led to development plans for large-scale renewable hydrogen and ammonia development with the first phase, a 10 MW solar farm and electrolyser, already instigated.

A new Wood Mackenzie report has forecasted a massive swing in the levelised cost of electricity across the Asia-Pacific over the course o the next decade. Before 2030, renewables will be cheaper than new coal and gas almost everywhere, and significantly cheaper in Australia.