Woodside, Australia’s largest energy company, has announced ambitions to expand its hydrogen production portfolio into the United States, purchasing property in Oklahoma for future development of a modular hydrogen facility and signing an agreement with Hyzon Motors.
Woodside has leased and optioned to purchase 94 acres (38 hectares) of undeveloped property in Ardmore, Oklahoma, to support future development of its projected H2OK project.
Additionally, the Company is pursuing similar land acquisition possibilities in high-growth locations throughout the United States. Subject to regulatory permissions and customer demand, the H2OK concept calls for the construction of a 290-megawatt (MW) facility that will employ electrolysis to create up to 90 tonnes of liquid hydrogen per day (tpd) for the heavy transport sector.
The location has the potential to expand to 550 MW and 180 tpd. Woodside has finished the preliminary design of the modular, scalable production plant and is currently assessing bidders to begin front-end engineering design by the end of this year.
The project intends to make a final investment decision in the second half of 2022 and to begin producing liquid hydrogen in 2025. Woodside is also actively involved in the development of the US and Australian hydrogen industries, having signed an MOU with Hyzon Motors, a New York-based supplier of zero-emission hydrogen fuel cell-powered commercial and heavy transport vehicles.
Woodside and Hyzon seek to collaborate on demand stimulation, supply and infrastructural solutions, and coordinated advocacy. Meg O’Neill, CEO of Woodside, said H2OK and collaborative agreements such as the Hyzon MoU are part of the company’s goal to create cost-competitive and scalable new energy projects to satisfy customer demand, emphasizing the huge growth potential in the US hydrogen industry.
“With H2OK we will be bringing Woodside’s extensive liquefaction experience from LNG to deliver large-scale hydrogen production. H2OK would be located in a highly prospective part of the US market, close to national highways and the supply chain infrastructure of major companies that have signalled their interest in securing reliable, affordable and lower carbon energy.
“Following the completion of Woodside’s proposed merger with BHP’s petroleum business, we would have a significant presence in the North American market and we expect new energy opportunities to be a growing component of our portfolio,” she said.
Woodside has already announced plans to construct phased hydrogen and ammonia production projects in Perth (H2Perth) and northern Tasmania (H2TAS), utilizing capabilities developed over decades of reliable and inexpensive LNG production and supply. Additionally, Woodside launched a new collaboration with renewable energy technology startup Heliogen in October, proposing to build a 5 MW commercial-scale demonstration facility in California using Heliogen’s concentrated solar power technology.
