Australia’s Woodside Energy has unveiled plans to develop a A$1bn ($750mn) large-scale hydrogen and ammonia production facility in Perth, Western Australia (WA).

Construction of the project, which has the potential to be one of the largest of its type globally, could start in 2024, pending regulatory approvals and FID. Woodside will fully fund the construction and operation of the project, which is called H2Perth and will be aimed primarily at export markets.

“We intend to use our skills and financial strength to add new energy products and lower-carbon technologies” O’Neill, Woodside

“Woodside has a proud track record as an Australian oil and gas producer, and our LNG exports will continue helping Asia to reliably meet its energy needs while reducing greenhouse gas emissions for decades to come” says Woodside CEO Meg O’Neill.

“Now we intend to use our skills and financial strength to add new energy products and lower-carbon technologies and services to our portfolio, which can be scaled to meet customer demand.”

Green and blue

The facility will produce both green and blue hydrogen, with an initial production target of 100,000t/yr, which can be converted into 600,000t/yr of ammonia or 110,000t/yr of liquid hydrogen.  At its full potential, the project would produce up to 500,000t/yr of hydrogen for export in the form of ammonia and liquid hydrogen. The complex will initially include a 250MW electrolyser with the potential to scale up to 3GW.

The blue hydrogen, or steam methane reformer, component will initially consume 40TJ/d of natural gas, with 100pc of carbon emissions “abated or offset”, Woodside says.

To be considered low carbon under most regulatory regimes, emissions from the hydrogen production process would have to be stored rather than offset. But Australia is considering allowing the use of offsets to render hydrogen made from fossil fuels “low carbon”, the government says in a discussion paper on a domestic hydrogen guarantee of origin scheme earlier this year.

250MW – Size of planned electrolyser

Woodside is proposing to locate the project on approximately 130 hectares of vacant industrial land to be leased from WA in the Kwinana Strategic Industrial Area and Rockingham Industry Zone.

“The land being leased from the state government in the Kwinana and Rockingham areas is ideally located close to existing gas, power, water and port infrastructure, as well as a skilled local residential workforce,” says O’Neill. “These advantages will make a huge difference to cost of supply and schedule and help H2Perth deliver competitively priced hydrogen to customers.”

Local demand

In addition to targeting export markets, Woodside aims to support state initiatives to stimulate local hydrogen demand, particularly in the transport sector and among local heavy industry. Local refuelling stations can be built independently of the export project timelines and could operate as early as 2023, subject to approvals and customer demand.

Woodside's plans align with WA’s renewable hydrogen strategy and roadmap, the state government says. In its 2021-22 budget, WA committed an additional A$61.5mn ($46mn) to boost its renewable hydrogen industry.

“We have more than 30 hydrogen project proposals on the table here in WA, and we are proud to have worked with Woodside to deliver one of the world's first major clean hydrogen production facilities in WA,” says WA’s hydrogen industry minister, Alannah MacTiernan.

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Author: Stuart Penson