Works begin on green hydrogen plus battery pilot in South Australia

Works have begun on a pilot electrolyser plant in South Australia that aims to be producing low-cost green hydrogen from renewable resources by the second half of this year and shipping it to Indonesia.

The $12.5 million project, based at Bolivar north of Adelaide, will feature a demonstration-scale 150kW electrolyser that uses proton exchange membrane technology, as well as a 5MW battery energy storage system.

The plan is to ship the green hydrogen produced at the plant in a metal hydride container from South Australia to Indonesia, while also using the medium-scale battery for grid stabilisation in the region.

Ground was officially broken on the project this week, with the aim to be producing green hydrogen by August and kicking off exports by the end of the end of 2023.

The project is part funded by Japan’s ministry of the environment as well as Japanese giant Marubeni, while the Bolivar site hosting the electrolyser and battery is owned by the South Australia government-owned SA Water.

The South Australia government says the use of state-owned land for the project offers the potential for Marubeni to expand its capacity, in step with the project’s success and with future demand for hydrogen.

“South Australia is already a leader in renewable energy, which places our state in a strong position to become a global leader in green hydrogen for the long-term future,” said state trade and investment minister Nick Champion.

“We have a long-standing relationship with the Marubeni Corporation and its choice to establish this hydrogen facility in South Australia is no coincidence – our state has demonstrated capabilities and huge potential for expansion in this industry.”

Satoru Harada CEO and head of the power business division at Marubeni, says this week’s turning of the sod ceremony for the project represented a significant milestone for the huge Japanese conglomerate.

“Green hydrogen has the potential to revolutionise the way we produce and use energy, and we are proud to be one of the frontrunners of this effort in South Australia,” Harada said.

South Australia’s Labor Malinauskas government is working to its Hydrogen Jobs Plan, which includes plans for a government-funded hydrogen hub at Whyalla that would include a 250MW electrolyser and a 200MW hydrogen-fuelled power station.

As RenewEconomy has reported, these plans generated some controversy over the fact that the project would be government funded, and questions about whether a hydrogen fuelled power station made sense in the current grid.

Labor’s proposal also stood in contrast to the previous Liberal government’s plan for a privately-led, but government supported renewable energy hub at Port Bonython, focused more on hydrogen exports and other green industries that attracted indicative support from a large group of big international players.

In July of last year, SA Labor said it had received 60 different proposals from organisations around the world on the Whyalla project, via a market sounding process.