Queensland’s state-owned CS Energy and its joint venture partner Japanese engineering firm IHI will build a pilot renewable hydrogen plant with capacity of 50,000 kilogrammes (kg) per year from 2023.
The plant will be located besides the company’s Kogan Creek coal-fired plant in Queensland. The project incorporates a solar plant, battery, hydrogen electrolyser and hydrogen fuel cell.
According to a local report, the state government will set up a A$2 billion (US$1.6bn) fund to finance renewables and hydrogen projects in the state. CS Energy is looking to support the decarbonisation of the heavy transport and haulage market and is in advanced talks with multiple potential off takers, a report said.
Hydrogen expert George Varma of Pinsent Masons, the law firm behind Out-Law, said: “The development of greenfield renewable energy projects continue to be announced at pace in Queensland. We are supporting a number of clients developing renewable energy projects in the region and the activation of the hydrogen market will certainly accelerate the growth of the domestic renewables market.”
“The state’s hydrogen roadmap and government grants being made available for the development of renewable energy projects in particular hydrogen, will all assist with the continued and exponential growth in the market, which will benefit not only Queensland, but Australia as a whole,” he said.
The two companies started a feasibility study on the plant in February.
Several green hydrogen supply chain projects involving Australian and Japanese businesses are currently in progress. In September, Japan’s largest oil company ENEOS said it would carry out a study on building up a commercial scale green hydrogen supply chain between Japan and Queensland.
In the same month, an expanded Australia-Japan consortium planned to start a feasibility study on an A$10.4m green hydrogen project.
In May, Australian energy company Fortescue Future Industries (FFI) signed a deal with Japan’s IHI Corporation and its Australian arm IHI Engineering Australia to study the potential of establishing green ammonia supply chains between Australia and Japan.
Australia and Japan signed a joint statement and agreed to cooperate on the deployment of hydrogen in January 2020.
