A “world-first” photo voltaic methanol manufacturing facility – offering inexperienced fuels for the delivery and aviation business – to be inbuilt Port Augusta, taking warmth and electrical energy from what’s hoped to be the nation’ first giant scale photo voltaic thermal venture.
Australia’s Huge Photo voltaic and the Photo voltaic Methanol Consortium it leads will obtain a complete of $A40 million from the Australian and German governments to construct the ability in South Australia.
It’s one in every of 4 inexperienced gasoline tasks tasks co-funded by the Australian Renewable Vitality Company and its German companions, and introduced late on Friday as a part of federal power minister Chris Bowen’s journey to Europe.
The photo voltaic methanol plant is the most recent in a collection of expertise proposals on the website that was to host one of many world’s greatest photo voltaic thermal tasks, SolarReserve’s 150MW Aurora venture that collapsed due to financing and expertise issues.
Huge Photo voltaic, which has its personal photo voltaic thermal expertise confirmed at a small 1.1MW plant at Jemalong in NSW, (pictured above), can be partnering with native firm 1414 to develop a 140MW huge battery (with at the least one hour storage) on the website.
It has additionally inherited from Aurora the promise of $110 million in concessional finance from the federal authorities to construct its personal 30MW photo voltaic thermal plant with eight hours storage. Wooden expects that monetary shut, with fairness companions, will probably be reached in 2023, with the plant beginning operations in 2026.
The methanol venture will take round 10 to twenty per cent of the photo voltaic thermal plant’s output beneath an off-take settlement, with the cash promised by ARENA ($19.48 million) and its German counterparts (€13.2 million) to construct the methanol plant and different infrastructure.
Wooden says photo voltaic methanol is a beautiful product becaus it’s simpler to make use of in retrofitted ships than inexperienced ammonia, and might readily be used to supply sustainable aviation gasoline, and is probably going price aggressive with fossil gasoline methanol as soon as produced at industrial scale.
Methanol is made by the mix of hydrogen and Co2, with the latter to be equipped by one other Australian firm Cailix, beneath a carbon seize expertise it makes use of as a part of a lime provide settlement with cement firm AdBri.
The opposite accomplice within the consortium is the Australian Photo voltaic Thermal Analysis Institute (ASTRI). The supplier of hydrogen electrolysers and the German provider of the methanol plant haven’t been named.
Wooden says the photo voltaic methanol plant will purpose to supply 7,500 tonnes a yr, which isn’t large within the general scheme of issues, however will enable a expertise worth to be found, serving to to finance subsequent larger tasks.
“Photo voltaic Methanol 1, or SM1, in Port Augusta plant has the potential to produce the delivery and aviation industries with zero-emission gasoline,” he mentioned.
“This can be a main step ahead in serving to to decarbonise hard-to-abate sectors and we applaud the Australian and German Governments’ management …. this has the potential to supercharge the home renewables business.”
Huge Photo voltaic can be proposing to construct one other 50MW “baseload photo voltaic hybrid” plant at Mt Isa, in Queensland, though a timeline has but to be established for that venture.
The opposite three tasks to obtain fund beneath the Australia-German initiative embrace a inexperienced hydrogen venture proposed by Edify Vitality and Siemens (greater than $A40 million) and an electrolyser venture by Australian start-up Hysata (a complete of $A18 million). Atco will even obtain funding for a inexperienced ammonia facility in NSW.
The Edify Inexperienced Hydrogen Venture includes the deployment of a 17.5MW Siemens Vitality electrolyser with 21MW of photo voltaic PV built-in behind the meter to supply renewable hydrogen for home industrial and transport functions.
It’s the first stage of a deliberate 1GW inexperienced hydrogen manufacturing facility that can export hydrogen globally by way of the Port of Townsville.
“Australia’s place on the world stage as a number one supplier of inexperienced hydrogen is taking form and we look ahead to doing what we do greatest – delivering the financial, environmental and social advantages of inexperienced hydrogen to communities of Northern Queensland and the world,” Edify CEO John Cole mentioned.
The Hysata venture will assist the event of the corporate’s ‘capillary-fed’ electrolyser expertise that the corporate claims will ship essentially the most environment friendly electrolyser on this planet.
It claims 95% system effectivity, a “big leap” in efficiency and value over incumbent applied sciences, which usually function at 75% or much less. Paul Barrett, CEO of Hysata
“Australia has a once-in-a-generation alternative to be a worldwide chief in inexperienced hydrogen and we’re delighted to see the Authorities backing Australian innovators,” CEO Paul Barrett mentioned in an announcement.
“Our expertise will improve sovereign manufacturing capabilities, create excessive expert jobs and place Australia as a inexperienced hydrogen powerhouse by offering electrolysers for home tasks and exports.”
The Atco venture, referred to as ScaleH2, is step one to a different deliberate gigawatt scale electrolyser venture and 800,000 tonne per yr inexperienced ammonia facility within the Illawarra.
“ATCO has set its sights on exports to international markets and the ScaleH2 venture will additional advance our ambitions to broaden our capabilities as a hydrogen chief in Australia and the globe,” mentioned Karen Nielsen, Managing Director, International Renewables at ATCO.
“The ScaleH2 venture, with our companions, will speed up understanding throughout business of hydrogen’s financial potential in direction of a clear power future.”
Giles Parkinson is founder and editor of Renew Economy, and can be the founding father of One Step Off The Grid and founder/editor of the EV-focused The Driven. Giles has been a journalist for 40 years and is a former enterprise and deputy editor of the Australian Monetary Evaluate.
