“Mighty sun, wind and water:” New partner and funds for green hydrogen mega project

Plans to develop a massive renewable hydrogen production and export hub in Central Queensland have taken a major step forward, with an “historic” injection of new funds and a new consortium partner signed up to investigate building a green ammonia plant in Gladstone.

The Albanese and Palaszczuk governments on Friday said the Central Queensland Hydrogen Project (CQ-H2), which promises to produce 800 tonnes a day of green hydrogen by the early 2030s, will proceed to front end engineering design backed by a new $117 million investment.

The money – $20 million from ARENA, $15 million from the Queensland government and $81.8 million from CQ-H2 consortium partners – follows up on the findings of a study in 2022 that the huge project is technically feasible and commercially viable with appropriate government support.

In a joint statement on Friday, federal energy minister Chris Bowen and Queensland energy minister Mick de Brenni said the “historic investment” in CQ-H2 was the biggest in a project of this kind in Australia’s history.

Bowen and de Brenni also claim that the publicly owned mega CQ-H2 project has been independently ranked among the top 10 hydrogen projects in the world at similar stages of development.

It will have up top 640MW of green hydrogen electrolysers, fed by wind and solar, and is expected to produce 200 tonnes of hydrogen a day by 2028, rising up to 800 tonnes a day by 2031.

The hydrogen will then be liquified or converted to ammonia for export – mainly to Japan – and for local industry offtake.

“Developing a green hydrogen export industry in Gladstone will create significant economic opportunities for Queensland, with the project expected to create almost 9,000 jobs and over $17.2 billion in hydrogen exports over its 30-year life,” the joint statement says.

“The CQ-H2 project could produce 800 tonnes per day of clean, green hydrogen by the early 2030s, equivalent to fuelling more than double Australia’s heavy vehicle fleet.”

Alongside the new funding for the “mega project,” Singaporean industrial giant Keppel was revealed as a new member of the international CQ-H2 consortium, with a view to delivering green ammonia to both domestic and overseas customers.

Keppel has partnered with Incitec Pivot to investigate construction of a green ammonia production facility in Gladstone, including exploring all essential infrastructure, licenses and approvals with the state government.

“After a number of discussions with Keppel, we are delighted the company and Incitec Pivot, have chosen Gladstone for their green ammonia production facility,” said Queensland treasurer Cameron Dick in a statement on Friday.

“This will open exciting and significant export possibilities, let alone regional jobs.”

A mega project in progress

The Queensland government, through state-owned energy utility Stanwell Corporation, has been working up plans to establish Central Queensland as a hub for large-scale renewable hydrogen production since 2019.

The project, dubbed CQ-H2, has since grown to include a technology cluster, taking in skills development and regional capacity, capability, and innovation to meet and sustain the challenge of developing a new hydrogen industry in the state.

Along the way, the project has gathered a range of heavyweight international consortium partners, including Iwatani Corporation, Kawasaki Heavy Industries, Kansai Electric Power Company and Marubeni, who were backed by the Japanese government to work up the feasibility study.

CQ-H2 has also secured land for a hydrogen production facility through Economic Development Queensland in Aldoga near Gladstone, and signed an MoU with Acciona to source energy from the Aldoga solar farm.

According to Stanwell’s project site, there has been other funding along the way, too, including $69.2 million from the 2022 federal budget, $15 million through the Queensland Renewable Energy and Hydrogen Jobs Fund in 2022 and $2.17 million from ARENA in 2021 to help fund the feasibility study.

The next resource frontier

“Projects like this are critical to scaling up Australia’s green hydrogen industry,” said federal energy minister Chris Bowen on Friday.

“The government is committed to making Australia a global hydrogen leader and projects like the CQ-H2 Project could lead the way in exporting renewable hydrogen to the international market.

“Japan, Korea and China are three of our largest trading partners and have all made clear commitments to increase the use of hydrogen, with a focus on establishing international supply chains for imports,” Bowen said.

“Green hydrogen is the next resource frontier for a world hungry for renewables, and it’s Queensland’s green hydrogen industry that will ensure the greatest climate, jobs, and export opportunity in a generation,” said Queensland’s de Brenni.

“We are writing a new chapter and carving our own path to ensure Queensland’s mighty sun, wind and water are leveraged to help decarbonise our nation, and the world.”