ICE says new tech makes massive south-eastern coast green hydrogen project economically viable
The boss of one of the companies involved in an enormous green hydrogen project on WA's south-eastern coast says it has created new technology that will make the planned development 'economically viable'.
InterContinental Energy is part of a consortium looking to develop the US$70 billion ($110b) Western Green Energy Hub north-west of Eucla.
The plan is for the construction and operation of 3000 wind turbines, 35 solar farms, and a renewable hydrogen facility across 22,690sqkm that would employ up to 8000 people.
Offshore elements comprise a marine offloading facility, desalination plant, brine pipeline, and an ammonia export pipeline.
The project has the potential to generate more than 50 gigawatts to produce about 3.5 million tonnes per annum of zero-carbon green hydrogen — making it one of the biggest power projects in the world.
WEGH will be built in several phases, with the first stage covering 1900sqkm aiming to generate about 6GW to produce 330,000tpa.
The relevant environmental authorities at both the State and Federal levels are currently assessing the proposal, with opposition already formed around the project's potential impacts on the extensive world-class limestone karst cave systems in the area.
There also continues to be doubts expressed about the economics of green hydrogen.
However, ICE on Tuesday said it had developed the P2(H2)Node, a patented modular system that would transform how green hydrogen was produced.
It said the system directly integrated electrolysis plants with wind and solar farms, eliminating the need for long-distance electricity transmission, cutting costs and boosting efficiency.
ICE said by standardising design and using modular construction, the system would deliver up to 10 per cent lower capital expenditure and up to 10 per cent higher operational efficiency than conventional approaches.
It said the system had taken ICE's Perth-based team four years to develop, with patents granted in Australia and the US, and patents pending in several other countries.
ICE chief executive Alexander Tancock said the Node system would reduce complexity, accelerate project deployment and make giga-scale green hydrogen production both economically viable and globally scalable.
'The P2(H2)Node system is designed with global application in mind, particularly for coastal and remote regions rich in renewable resources but lacking robust grid infrastructure,' he said.
'Its decentralised, modular and flexible architecture allows for efficient deployment in a variety of settings, making giga-scale green hydrogen production feasible in locations where traditional models face significant barriers.'
Mr Tancock said conventional centralised models required expensive electricity transmission, leading to energy losses and inefficiency.
'The patented P2(H2)Node system flips this model by co-locating giga-scale hydrogen production with wind and solar farms, ensuring power is used where it's generated,' he said.
ICE's Australian boss Isaac Hinton said the Node system could unlock the full potential of its portfolio of giga-scale projects, as well as others globally.
In particular, ICE's largest project WEGH, being developed in partnership with CWP and Mirning Green Energy, stood to benefit significantly.
The node would enable the lowest cost, large-scale production of a range of hydrogen derivatives, including ammonia and e-fuels.
'With the support of recently announced Federal Government hydrogen incentives, WGEH is projected to drive down production costs for green ammonia below US$650 per tonne, unlocking transformative investment opportunities and significant job creation in Western Australia and the country more broadly,' Mr Hinton said.
'By making green hydrogen, ammonia and e-fuels cost-competitive, the P2(H2)Node will support decarbonisation across hard-to-abate sectors like steel, shipping, aviation and fertilisers.'
ICE will unveil the details and design of the Node system at the World Hydrogen Summit in Rotterdam, the Netherlands next week.
A final investment decision on WEGH is not expected until 2029.
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