The Good Earth Green Hydrogen and Ammonia (GEGHA) project in northern New South Wales has reached financial close, marking a critical inflection point for regional hydrogen deployment in Australia’s agrifood value chain.
The 15 MW electrolyzer-powered project—backed by 36 MW of solar generation and a 41 MWh battery system—will deliver a daily output of up to 16 tones of green ammonia for local use.
Led by New Zealand’s Hiringa Energy in partnership with Queensland-based Sundown Pastoral Company, the initiative directly integrates renewable generation with ammonia production and on-farm fertilizer consumption. The vertically integrated approach addresses key challenges facing green hydrogen: demand certainty, cost-effective logistics, and grid bottlenecks.
Unlike many Australian hydrogen ventures aiming for export or grid-tied off-take, GEGHA’s value chain remains hyperlocal. Located on the Moree Plains, adjacent to the Wathagar Cotton Gin, the project leverages an existing 9 MW solar asset and builds an additional 27 MW. The integrated facility will channel electricity into electrolyzers that split harvested rainwater to produce hydrogen, which is further synthesized into ammonia.
The green ammonia will be used as fertilizer at Sundown’s 65,000-acre Keytah farm and neighboring agricultural properties. This reduces reliance on ammonia derived from fossil gas and sidesteps exposure to volatile global fertilizer markets—where prices surged over 200% in the wake of 2022’s energy crisis.
Clennet envisions the project as a template for other agricultural valleys. The plant is expected to produce around 224 tones of green hydrogen annually for direct use, supporting Hiringa’s heavy-vehicle refueling network and replacing diesel in irrigation pumps.
This aligns with broader state policy ambitions. The NSW Hydrogen Hubs Initiative has so far allocated $109.3 million to projects in Hunter, Port Kembla and Moree, targeting 700 MW of electrolyzer capacity by 2030. The GEGHA project itself has secured $35.8 million from the state government, underscoring confidence in its delivery timeline and replicability.
Critically, GEGHA does not depend on electrolyzer overbuild or synthetic fuels with export intent. Instead, it delivers a closed-loop use case where intermittency is absorbed through battery storage, and water supply is managed sustainably. Given the 2025–2026 commissioning timeframe, GEGHA may enter operations well ahead of larger, export-oriented hydrogen proposals.
Electrolyzer load factors and integration with solar and storage infrastructure will determine the plant’s economics. Industry estimates suggest that decentralized ammonia production can become competitive with imported fertilizers if renewables exceed 40% load factors and green premiums are absorbed downstream.
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