Edify advances green hydrogen ambitions with Port of Townsville deal

Australian solar and battery storage developer Edify Energy has advanced its green hydrogen plans in Queensland’s north with after signing a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Port of Townsville to facilitate exports.

Edify announced in September that it had been granted development approval to build and operate a green hydrogen production facility south of Townsville at the Lansdown Eco-Industrial precinct.

The green hydrogen production plant is designed to be built with an electrolyser with up to 1GW of capacity, generating between 5,000 and 150,000 tonnes of green hydrogen annually.

In the new MoU, announced on Wednesday, Edify agreed with the Port of Townsville to explore the possibility of exporting the resulting green hydrogen through the port.

Edify chief executive officer John Cole said Townsville’s existing infrastructure and industry was already well placed to establish a renewable hydrogen production and export industry.

“This MoU is another milestone for our project on its path to exporting renewable hydrogen and for Townsville’s journey to establishing sustainable long-term jobs and industry,” he said.

“Using a renewable energy source to produce large-scale green hydrogen means Townsville will be perfectly poised to be North Queensland’s hydrogen hub and export capital on the east coast.

Port of Townsville chief Ranee Crosby said North Queensland was uniquely positioned to play a significant and leading role in the world’s growing demand for green hydrogen.

“This versatility, partnered with Townsville’s global connectivity and highly-skilled workforce, represents boundless opportunities to align the North’s economic prosperity with global ambitions to transition to a clean energy future.”

Edify’s Lansdown green hydrogen facility is expected to start out life with a 10MW pilot facility which would then be increased in stages, targeting domestic and export market opportunities, including one of Australia’s first large-scale battery storage manufacturing projects.

The pilot project will initially source the requisite electricity to power green hydrogen production from behind-the-meter solar and battery storage, but as the project expands, power will be sourced from the nearby 200MW Majors Creek solar project – which is also evaluating the addition of battery storage.