Australia-based Aviation H2 have selected the use of liquid ammonia to turbofan combustion as the best pathway forward for developing hydrogen-powered aircraft. Based on the existing Dassault Falcon 50, Aviation H2 aims to have the converted aircraft in the skies by mid-2023.
In three green maritime corridor announcements this week:
The Hydrogen Utility and Orica will explore possibilities for an exclusive off-take & supply agreement. Renewable ammonia produced at H2U’s future production plant in Gladstone, Australia would supply Orica’s nearby manufacturing plant, which will use the ammonia to produce explosives and mining extraction chemicals for Australian & international mining customers. There is also the potential for an ammonia export terminal to be built by the pair, based on Orica’s existing ammonia storage infrastructure in Gladstone.
Fortescue Future Industries and German energy giant E.ON have signed a significant hydrogen supply & distribution agreement this week. Aiming to begin as quickly as possible, by 2030 FFI will ramp up supply to 5 million tonnes of green hydrogen to Europe per year for distribution by E.ON.
Orica and Origin Energy will collaborate on feasibility work and development of the Hunter Valley Hydrogen Hub in Newcastle, Australia. A grid-connected, 55 MW electrolyser will produce green hydrogen from recycled water, with hydrogen to be fed into Orica’s existing ammonia production plant on Kooragang Island. Grid-connected hydrogen production facilities in Newcastle stand to gain access to surplus amounts of renewable electricity in the coming years, with huge commercial investment interest in the under-development Hunter-Central Coast Renewable Energy Zone.
RWE is accelerating plans for a green ammonia import terminal in Brunsbüttel, with facilities to be ready to receive 300,000 tonnes per year as early as 2026. Although the immediate focus for Brunsbüttel is a new LNG import facility, RWE indicates that the ultimate goal is complete conversion of the site to only import “green molecules” like ammonia. Brunsbüttel has already been identified as a likely destination for green ammonia exports from South Australia. And, an ongoing feasibility study by the Australian-German HySupply consortium has released interim results suggesting that shipping costs for Australian ammonia to the EU will be much lower than first thought.
Fortescue Future Industries’ 2 GW per annum electrolyser manufacturing plant in Queensland has officially broken ground in construction, and is on track to begin operations next year. FFI and Plug Power are equal partners in the electrolyser plant, which will manufacture Plug Power’s electrolyser units. The first electrolyser units off the process line in 2023 have already been earmarked for installation at FFI’s planned green hydrogen production facility in Gibson Island, Brisbane, next door to Incitec Pivot Limited’s existing ammonia plant. Agreements between FFI and state-owned power utilities were signed this week to plug Gibson Island electrolysers into Queensland’s power grid.