Canadian renewables developer Amp Energy has won a competitive bidding process to lead the development of a gigawatt-scale green hydrogen and ammonia production project in South Australia.
The project is located at the Cape Hardy Port Precinct, which is under development as a major industrial area attached to a deep-water port. Amp’s winning concept design proposes a 5GW scale electrolyser and associated green hydrogen and an ammonia production facility.
The project is set to be supported by Amp’s existing Australian renewables projects, including three South Australia solar and battery projects that were acquired in 2021. The solar and battery projects are part of Amp’s $2 billion Australian plan to develop 20GW of electrolyser capacity across three precincts, from which it intends to produce the equivalent of 19 million tons a year of green ammonia, known as the Renewable Energy Hub of South Australia (REHSA).
Iron Road, a South Australia-based miner that owns the Central Eyre Iron Project (CEIP) on the Eyre Peninsula, selected Amp for the Cape Hardy project based on the company’s 18 months of “focused work” on green hydrogen in the state. Iron Road expects the CEIP to benefit from the nearby, large-scale renewable energy generation and transmission that will underpin the production of high-quality green steel-making feedstock.
Amp’s co-founder and CIO, Paul Ezekiel, said the company was drawn to the Cape Hardy project due to its strategic location and strong support from the South Australian and federal governments. The Cape Hardy site has direct access to high-voltage power through existing transmission infrastructure, as well as a deep-water port that will allow the transportation of renewable hydrogen.
Iron Road CEO Larry Ingle said Amp’s selection as the lead developer further validated Cape Hardy as South Australia’s pre-eminent hydrogen export hub of scale. He said Amp would assemble additional consortium partners in collaboration with Iron Road, based on its concept design work. A land parcel of around 410 hectares will be set aside for the proposed 5GW scale electrolyser project, and a detailed project schedule and scope of work will be developed during a nine-month exclusivity period. Amp will also continue to develop its nearby wind and solar projects to support the proposed Cape Hardy electrolyser project and hydrogen/ammonia facilities.
