Australia’s biggest ever investment in green hydrogen has been announced today, with $117 million committed towards Queensland’s largest renewable hydrogen project, located in Gladstone.
The cash injection will fund the Front End Engineering Design (FEED) for the Central Queensland Hydrogen (CQ-H2) project at Gladstone.
The part-publicly owned mega Central Queensland Hydrogen project is within the top 10 hydrogen projects in the world that are at a similar stage of development. The successful completion of the FEED will bring the project one step closer to a Final Investment Decision, planned for late 2024.
The CQ-H2 project will be powered by renewable energy like 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 – which the Queensland Government says is the equivalent to fuelling more than double Australia’s heavy vehicle fleet.
The hydrogen would then be liquified or converted to ammonia for export and potentially local industry offtake.
The project is expected to create over $17.2 billion in hydrogen exports over its 30-year life.
“The advancement of this important hydrogen project is great news for Central Queensland, where the project could create thousands of jobs and deliver billions of dollars in economic benefit,” said Stanwell CEO Michael O’Rourke.
“We are proud to be leading the CQ-H2 project with our partners, which demonstrates our commitment to driving the development of Queensland’s hydrogen industry and other new technologies.”
The Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) will provide $20 million in funding, while $15 million will be provided from the Queensland Government and the remaining $81.8 million will come from consortium partners: from consortium partners: Iwatani Corporation (Japan), Kansai Electric Power Company (Japan), Marubeni Corporation (Japan), Keppel Infrastructure (Singapore) and Queensland’s Publicly owned Stanwell Corporation.
“Projects like this are critical to scaling up Australia’s green hydrogen industry,” added Federal Minister for Climate Change and Energy, Chris Bowen. “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.”