BP puts $1b Kwinana hydrogen and clean fuel projects on ice
The two projects will be "recycled" amid BP's concerns about costs and government policy.
A wind and solar energy to hydrogen project near Kalbarri has won the support of the $19.5 billion Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners investment fund.
A green hydrogen project near Kalbarri has won the support of Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners that manages €12 billion ($19.5 billion) of investments.
Hydrogen Renewables Australia plans to build five-gigawatt of wind and solar capacity with a desalination and electrolyser plant at Murchison House Station near Kalbarri.
The Murchison Renewable Hydrogen project would start with a demonstration plant to produce transport fuel. An initial expansion would allow the blending of hydrogen into the nearby Dampier to Bunbury Natural Gas Pipeline, and a later development would support the export of hydrogen to Asia.
HRA executive chair Terry Kallis said the CIP deal would enable the assessment of the feasibility of producing competitive hydrogen exports for the Asian markets.
CIP partner Michael Hannibal said the project aimed to export green hydrogen produced from solar PV and onshore wind to Asia.
"We believe Murchison represents the best combined wind and solar resource in Australia and the project complements our existing activities in Australia," Hannibal said.
CIP is also progressing the Star of the South 2.2 GW offshore wind power project off the Gippsland coast of Victoria.
The Murchison project is on a growing list of renewable hydrogen projects being pushed in WA, including:
The final four projects listed are among seven in the running for $70 million of funding from the Australian Renewable Energy Agency that Boiling Cold understands ARENA will share between two projects.
The WA Government's hydrogen strategy is exclusively focussed on green hydrogen produced from splitting water into hydrogen and oxygen in electrolysers powered by renewable energy.
Most hydrogen is now produced by steam methane reforming where natural gas is split into hydrogen and carbon dioxide.
Federal chief scientist Alan Finkel today defended hydrogen made from coal or gas instead of renewable electricity, but only with carbon capture and storage.
"If it's not done with CCS then it hasn't got a chance, no one is going to buy it," he told the AFR.
Woodside executive vice president sustainability Shaun Gregory last week said the gas company believed its path to produce green hydrogen would start with blue hydrogen.
"In the future, we expect the transition to green hydrogen to occur over different timelines based on the end-market use, be it from heavy transport to power generation, and to chemicals and industrials as well," Gregory said.
Main image: wind turbine. Source: Jan Kopřiva on Unsplash
All the info and a bit of comment on WA energy, industry and climate in your inbox every Friday