FFI and Woodside shortlisted for massive NZ green hydrogen project

Two Australian companies have made the shortlist of potential partners for a massive green hydrogen development planned for New Zealand’s South Island.

The Southern Green Hydrogen project is being pursued through a joint venture between Meridian Energy and Contact Energy. It is planning to establish 600MW of green hydrogen production capacity – making it one of the world’s largest projects under development.

Fortescue Future Industries – the green energy subsidiary of Andrew Forrest’s iron ore giant – and ASX-listed oil and gas giant Woodside both made the shortlist of potential development partners.

Other companies making the shortlist were a consortium led by Japanese industrial giant Mitsui working partnership with ENEOS, and engineering and gas supply company BOC.

The shortlist of four potential partners was selected following a call for proposals for the South Green Hydrogen venture, which attracted submissions from more than 80 proponents.

The project would involve the creation of a 600MW renewable hydrogen facility in Southland, on the southern tip of New Zealand’s South Island, which would produce renewable hydrogen for export, and for use within New Zealand to help decarbonise heavy transport, aviation, shipping and agriculture industries.

Meridian’s chief executive, Neal Barclay, welcomed the announcement of a shortlist consisting of companies with an established and active involvement in the emerging green hydrogen industry.

“These shortlisted counterparties all have strong hydrogen supply chain capability and a willingness to invest in the opportunity,” Barclay said.

“Their involvement demonstrates that markets for green hydrogen are imminent, and that Aotearoa’s renewable energy resources have substantial potential to help decarbonise our domestic economy and increase export earnings.”

The joint venture said that it was aiming to announce the chosen project partners in the middle of the year, with plans for the project to commence operations within the next three or four years.

The New Zealand based Meridian recently divested itself of its Australian assets, which included selling electricity retailer Powershop Australia to Shell.

Contact Energy CEO Mike Fuge said that its subsequent push into the production and supply of green hydrogen was already one of the “most advanced large-scale projects in the world.”

“It’s good to see things moving forward with the RFP and bring the project closer to fruition,” Fuge said.

“There has been a massive amount of interest from leading engineering firms involved with green hydrogen. Some of these companies are from New Zealand, which is particularly exciting.”

Fortescue Future Industries has announced its involvement in several green hydrogen ventures, both in Australia and New Zealand.

In December, FFI announced that it had signed a memorandum of understanding with Refining NZ to investigate the potential repurposing of the Marsden Point oil refinery – located north of Auckland – as a green hydrogen facility.

The ASX listed Woodside also recently indicated its intention to expand into the production and supply of hydrogen after completing a merger with BHP’s former oil and gas businesses.

Following the merger, Woodside now ranks amongst the world’s largest oil and gas companies but set itself a $7 billion investment target for a pivot into hydrogen and carbon capture and storage projects.