On the Tiwi Islands, off the coast of the Northern Territory, Global Energy Ventures has announced it has begun the development program for a large 2.8 GW green hydrogen production and export project.
Green Energy Ventures (GEV), a Perth-based ‘energy transition firm’, says it will focus on environmental permitting as it wants to build a 2.8 GW solar farm on the Tiwi Islands in the Northern Territory as part of a major green hydrogen export hub to Asia.
An environmental referral submission to the Northern Territory Environment Protection Authority (NTEPA) is expected in the first half of 2022, according to GEV.
Environmental review is likely to determine the project timeframe, according to GEV executive director and chief development officer Garry Triglavcanin.
Additionally, GEV has retained consulting firms ILF and Jacobs to prepare engineering studies to support the referral submission. The studies will cover key areas such as solar generation, power transmission, including the transmission line route, and water desalination to supply water to the electrolysis plant.
ILF has been retained as a result of GEV’s previously announced memorandum of agreement with the German corporation.
GEV first announced plans to create the 2.8 GW Tiwi Islands green hydrogen export project in October.
The project proposes to establish a fully integrated green hydrogen production and export supply chain, beginning with a fleet of the company’s 430-tonne compressed hydrogen ships, with the goal of exporting up to 100,000 tonnes of renewable hydrogen per year to Asia Pacific.
The project aims to vertically integrate GEV’s hydrogen industry, which has mostly focused on developing and manufacturing ships capable of running on compressed hydrogen and transporting it.
The Tiwi Island project is being developed in stages, with the initial stage involving the construction of a 500 MW solar farm on the island, which would be expanded to 2.8 GW as the regional hydrogen market grows and the costs of solar, electrolysers, and shipping decrease.
The company stated in November that it had obtained $12 million through a share issue to expedite the project’s development.
GEV confirmed last week in a statement that its development program for 2022 is fully funded following the capital offering.
GEV stated that the environmental referral submission will give the NT EPA with adequate material to make a determination on the appropriate level of evaluation for the project.
The company intends to file its application in the first half of 2022.
GEV anticipates appointing engineers to work on the detailed engineering of the solar generating and electrolysis processes during the March and June quarters.
The solar project will be erected on existing plantation land, while the hydrogen production, compression, and loading facilities will be built on existing industrial precinct and port area.
The company intends to complete the initial phase of the project’s financial closing by mid-2023.
Additionally, potential offtake markets in Singapore, Japan, Korea, and Indonesia are being examined.
