Fortescue’s proposed green hydrogen facility to be located at Bell Bay was announced last year, with the Final Investment Decision due this year. The project has moved forward with TasPorts announcing today it has signed a 20 hectare land and access deal with Fortescue.

The proposed project is a 250MW green hydrogen plant, with green ammonia production capacity of 250,000 tonnes per year for domestic and international export. It has the capacity to be one of the world’s largest green hydrogen plants, powered entirely by Tasmanian renewable energy.

Constructing green hydrogen facilities in Tasmania offers major advantages over other states which are not powered by 100% renewables. Elsewhere, producing green hydrogen requires either constructing dedicated renewable generation, or purchasing renewable generation from elsewhere. Continuous hydrogen production may not be possible due to varying energy supply and pricing, meaning lower utilisation of the hydrogen plant investment. This also necessitates additional costs of hydrogen storage due to, in this example, the asynchronous operation of the hydrogen and ammonia plants.

While the project is in the early stages of assessment, comparable projects indicate that producing 250,000t of ammonia per year may require around 930ML (930 million liters) of water and 2600GWh of electricity – around 25% of the state’s total electricity generation. Hydrogen production in Tasmania will contribute significant load for Tasmania’s electricity generation as it progresses towards 200% renewable by 2040. Construction may start in 2022 with commissioning the following year.

Earlier this year, Fortescue brought forward its net-zero target by 10 years to 2030. The company has already commenced other hydrogen projects, including a partnership with CSIRO for the development of new technologies, and involvement in developing two green hydrogen production and transport projects in Queensland and Western Australia.

You can find out more about the TasPorts agreement here
You can find out more about Fortescue’s proposal here
Image: ARENA