Fortescue Future Industries (FFI) and Refining NZ (RNZ) have agreed to investigate repurposing facilities at the RNZ Marsden Point oil refinery to produce green hydrogen and green hydrogen products.
As the RNZ site transitions to an import-only fuel terminal, FFI and RNZ have signed a Memorandum of Understanding to investigate the commercial and technical feasibility of producing, storing, distributing, and exporting industrial-scale green hydrogen and green hydrogen products.
FFI will undertake feasibility studies which will assess key operational and commercial projections for the project and enable the development of a project timeline.
Dr Andrew Forrest AO, Chairman and Founder of FFI, said the announcement was an important step forward in FFI’s plans to turn fossil fuel emitters into zero carbon green hydrogen producers all over the globe.
“Green hydrogen can provide all sorts of advantages to local and export economies – and is the answer our planet needs now,” he said.
“Last week we announced we would look into producing green hydrogen at a retiring coal fired power station in Australia, yesterday we shared our decision to progress to the next stage converting a grey ammonia plant to green, and today we are looking to kick off something similar at Marsden Point oil refinery in New Zealand.
“Green hydrogen production at Marsden Point will potentially deliver energy security, good local jobs, and the decarbonisation of local heavy industry – all while reducing emissions for New Zealand,” Dr Forrest said.
In addition to the deep-water port and close proximity to large electricity grid connections, the existing RNZ site has an industrial water supply that FFI plans to repurpose for the production of green products.
Chief Executive Officer of RNZ, Naomi James said, “The potential of green hydrogen to support New Zealand’s energy transition is huge, so we are delighted that FFI has chosen to partner with us as we jointly to investigate what might be possible in years to come.”
FFI Director of Australia East and New Zealand, Felicity Underhill said, “As a New Zealander, I am keen for us to harness the immense potential of New Zealand to benefit from a green hydrogen industry.
“I look forward to working with RNZ, government, local Iwi and other communities to investigate the possibility of repurposing the Marsden Point site to produce green hydrogen,” Ms Underhill said.
Refining of petroleum products for the New Zealand market, including gasoline, diesel, aviation fuel, and a variety of other products, is handled by RNZ, which has its headquarters in Marsden Point (about two hours north of Auckland).
In November 2021, the Board of RNZ made a final decision to convert the facility into an import only facility, which meant around 65 per cent of their existing site would be available for future growth opportunities once the transition had taken place, in April 2022.
In order to produce green hydrogen with zero emissions, FFI uses only renewable energy sources.
