The Australian Government has, since at least 2018, been
funding projects designed to develop a renewable hydrogen export industry. Click here to read details on this
funding. The “Australia’s National Hydrogen
Strategy” report (click here; pdf file) provides details on Australia’s goals
in this area.
What seems to be driving this program is Japan’s expectations
to import annually 300,000 metric tons (mt) of green hydrogen (hydrogen
produced by renewable energy) by the late 2020s. This targeted hydrogen import is to replace
dependence on fossil fuel imports. Japan’s basic hydrogen strategy can be read
by clicking here and here (pdf file). South Korea,
China, Singapore, and perhaps other Asian countries are also expected to be
large importers of green hydrogen.
Japan, South Korea, and Singapore do not have sufficient solar
radiation and land characteristics for needed solar and wind farms. Australia does. Australia is one of the foremost, if not the
foremost, global sites for solar and wind energy capture potential, and has
extensively developed several solar and wind arms. Estimates are that Australia produced about
48,000 gigawatt hours of renewable energy in 2018. This, along with Japan and other countries expectations
of importing large amounts of green hydrogen, certainly is a strong motivation
for the Australian Government pursuing a green hydrogen export industry.
Australia has built (are building) several green hydrogen-production
plants. Eventually, according to
information on the Internet, Australia’s green hydrogen production needs to be
at least 500 mt per day in order to offset capital and operating expenses in
order for a green hydrogen export industry to be profitable.
The following identify many of the Australian green hydrogen-producing
demonstration plants. Because of the
problems with transporting hydrogen, these plants also produce ammonia (green ammonia)
from the green hydrogen produced at the plants.
The ammonia serves as a hydrogen carrier, and because ammonia has long
been globally traded, has proven transportation success.
Crystal Brook, about 110 miles
north of Adelaide in South Australia State.
A 50-megawatt (mw) electrolyser, using solar and wind energy, has a
production capacity of 20 to 25 mt of hydrogen per day. A 400-mw storage battery is present. The plant is run by the French company Neoen.
Also in South Australia State at Port
Lincoln on the Spencer Gulf is a green hydrogen plant with a 50 mt per day
production capacity of ammonia. The
German company Thyssenkrupp and the Australian company H2U are associated with
this plant.
A green hydrogen/ammonia plant
owned by Incitev Pivot (Dyno Nobel) at Moranbah, Queensland State has a 160 mw electrolyser
and a 210-mw solar farm.
In Moura, Queensland, about 450 kilometers
southeast of Moranbah, is another green hydrogen/ammonia demonstration plant operated
by the French company Neoen. This demonstration
plant is co-located with a fossil fuel ammonia-producing plant (for agriculture
ammonia) owned by Incitec Pivot and Wesfarmers.
The plant is intended to produce annually 20,000 mt of green ammonia
from 3,000 mt of hydrogen.
The planned Asian Renewable Energy
Hub (AREH) in the East Pilbara region of Western Australia State, west of
Pardoo, will use the bulk of the renewable energy generated to enable large-scale
production of green hydrogen products for domestic and export markets. (Click here for details on AREB).
The Norwegian company Yara and the French
company Engie are collaborating on planning a pilot plant on the Burrup Peninsula
in Western Australian State using renewable energy to produce fertilizer
ammonia. Currently the world’s largest
fossil fuel fertilizer ammonia production plant is at this site. (Click here for more information.)
The Canadian company ATCO, collaborating
with the Australian Government, is involved in a project at Jandakot, Perth,
Western Australia, designed to use green hydrogen in Australia’s gas distribution
network. (Click here for more details.)
This Australian green hydrogen/ammonia program, should it be
successful, will play an important role in reducing carbon dioxide emissions
and likely will greatly help Australia’s economy. This blog provides another example, in
addition to my previous blogs (click here and here) of demonstrating the high
interest in using renewable energy in chemical production.
