> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.boilingcold.com.au/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # BP puts brakes on Kwinana clean fuel plans - URL: https://www.boilingcold.com.au/bp-puts-brakes-on-kwinana-clean-fuel-plans/ - Published: 2025-01-16T03:58:23.000Z - Updated: 2025-02-03T07:30:47.000Z - Description: BP has stood down contractors working on its biofuel plant just weeks before discovering if its adjacent green hydrogen project will win $1 billion of government backing. - Author: Peter Milne - Tags: EXCLUSIVE, BP (LON: BP), Kwinana, Kwinana oil refinery, Hydrogen, Renewable Energy The UK energy giant has stood down construction and design contractors from its Kwinana Renewables Fuel (KRF) project in recent weeks, according to multiple sources familiar with the project but not authorised to speak to the media. The KRF was to be the first of five BP plants worldwide to turn biomass, including used cooking oil, into 10,000 barrels a day of sustainable aviation fuel and renewable diesel. Work awarded on the KRF has included a $42 million contract to [refurbish 25 tanks](https://saundersint.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/Saunders-secures-42m-bp-Kwinana-Renewable-Fuels-Project.pdf?ref=boilingcold.com.au) previously used by the shuttered refinery. French engineering firm Technip was awarded the contract to build a €50 million-plus ($83 million) [hydrogen production unit](https://investors.technipenergies.com/news-releases/news-release-details/technip-energies-awarded-significant-contract-hydrogen?ref=boilingcold.com.au). As recently as late 2023, BP said it planned to start production in 2026\. When asked if this was still its target, the company did not respond. A BP spokeswoman said work was continuing at its Kwinana site. "BP will not respond to rumours about its operation,” he said. ## Verdict on BP's hydrogen plan nears BP is also planning to build a green hydrogen plant - H2Kwinana - at Kwinana on the site where it operated Australia's largest oil refinery for 66 years until it closed in 2021. BP wound down work on the KRF shortly before the Federal Government is expected to announce if it will back H2Kwinana with $1 billion. The project is among six that will share $2 billion of funding from Round 1 of the Federal Government's Hydrogen Headstart program. The funding is expected to be split between two projects. A spokesperson for the Australian Renewable Energy Agency said it expected to announce the successful applicants in the coming weeks. BP started [front-end engineering and design](https://www.bp.com/en%5Fau/australia/home/media/press-releases/govt-support-enables-bp-renewable-hydrogen-project-to-hit-major-milestone.html?ref=boilingcold.com.au) on the hydrogen plant in November 2023, with $70 million in federal government support. The first stage would include an electrolyser to separate hydrogen from water, powered by 100 megawatts of renewable energy. A slightly larger plant was estimated to cost $399 million in a [conceptual study released in 2023](https://www.wa.gov.au/system/files/2023-08/h2kwinana%5Fpublic%5Fsharing%5Fknowledge%5Freport.pdf?ref=boilingcold.com.au). ## Do you like knowing what companies won't tell you? Boiling Cold is here to help [Become a supporter today](#/portal/support) The KRF is a potential customer for H2Kwinana as its green hydrogen would lower the emissions of the biofuel plant by removing the need for it to make hydrogen from gas. Another potential customer for H2Kwinana was BHP's nearby nickel refinery, according to a source not authorised to speak to the media. The miner had considered [building its own hydrogen plant](https://im-mining.com/2020/07/20/bhp-nickel-west-puts-forward-renewable-hydrogen-project-arena-funding/?ref=boilingcold.com.au) in 2020. Unfortunately for BP's hydrogen plans, BHP shut down its nickel business in WA in 2024 for at least three years. ## Tough times for BP's clean fuel projects The two Kwinana projects survived BP's [cull of its alternative fuels portfolio](https://reneweconomy.com.au/bp-dumps-18-early-stage-hydrogen-projects-as-it-retreats-to-oil-and-gas/?ref=boilingcold.com.au) in November when it dumped 18 early-stage hydrogen projects and paused two biofuel projects. At the time, BP also announced it would sell its US onshore wind investments, with the moves widely interpreted as the $135 billion company returning to its oil and gas roots. BP is developing two other hydrogen projects in WA. In WA's Mid West, it is investigating a phased development of [14 gigawatts of wind and solar generation](https://www.bp.com/en%5Fau/australia/home/accelerating-australia/hydrogen/geraldton-export-scale-renewable-investment.html?ref=boilingcold.com.au) to make green hydrogen for local use and export. The WA government has allocated the Geraldton Export-Scale Renewable Investment (GERI) 220 hectares at its proposed Oakagee industrial estate. A 2021 feasibility study into GERI [concluded that it was viable](https://www.boilingcold.com.au/bps-geraldton-green-hydrogen-dream-needs-help/), but only with significant investment in ports, water supply, and electricity networks. Further north, in 2022, it bought a 40 per cent stake in the enormous 26-gigawatt Australian Renewable Energy Hub located on a 6500 square kilometre site between Port Hedland and Broome. BP assumed operatorship of the project that aims to produce 1.6 million tonnes of green hydrogen a year. In the next two years it bought almost half of CWP Global's stake and all of Macquarie Bank's interest to increase its ownership to 64 per cent. Macquarie also partnered with BP on the feasibility study for H2Kwinana. When asked if the Australian bank still had an interest in the project, neither company responded. BP also has a one-sixth share of the North West Shelf gas export project near Karratha and owns the biggest stake in Woodside's proposed Browse gas development off the Kimberley coast.