Massive $4.7 billion hydrogen scheme unveiled but money, approvals still to come
Plans for a $4.7 billion industrial scale hydrogen and ammonia hub in Gladstone were unveiled today by a joint venture between Orica and H2U that could potentially employ 550 people in construction.
Orica has an existing facility at Yarwun
While the project has a lot to achieve before reaching reality, it has been gazetted as a co-ordinated project under the State Government’s Co-ordinator General allowing for smoother approval processes.
The hub has a planned capacity of 3 gigawatts of electrolysis and up to 5000 tonnes a day of green ammonia using renewable energy. It would include a production precinct, an export precinct and an infrastructure corridor.
A business case has already been completed and land for the scheme has been bought. Project funding would be a mix of debt and equity and negotiations would start later this year. A final investment decision has been scheduled for June 2023. Funding would also be sought from government agencies, including NAIF.
It also has to achieve front-end engineering and design, power purchase agreements, product offtake agreements and transmission agreements.
Orica and H2U signed a memorandum of understanding on a master plan for the project while both parties explore opportunities for an exclusive domestic green ammonia offtake and supply deal.
The deal could eventually mean green ammonia being directly supplied to Orica’s Yarwun plant from H2U’s planned production facility.
Both companies will also explore potential exports of green ammonia, a product which can be more safely used to store hydrogen for transport.
Orica Australia Pacific president German Morales said the partnership would form a critical milestone for the H2 hub.
H2U’s initial advice statement said the project would be a world first deployment of green hydrogen infrastructure.
H2U founder and chief executive Attilio Pigneri said the company Orica was a strategic offtake and development partner in the Gladstone project.
“Securing participation from one of the leading players in the domestic ammonia industry is a huge vote of confidence in this game-changing project,” he said.
“We look forward to working with Orica, the Port of Gladstone, and the Queensland Government to establish Gladstone as a globally leading hub in the emerging green hydrogen and green ammonia export market, and to secure new long-term jobs and economic growth for Central Queensland.”
