November 22, 2021 • Paul Rodden • Season: 2021 • Episode: 66
Welcome to The Hydrogen Podcast!
In episode 066, Big news in Australia as 1.7 gigawatts of electrolysis for hydrogen and ammonia production get announced. RWE in Germany talks hydrogen. And big money in California gets planned for car chargers and hydrogen refueling all of this on today’s hydrogen podcast.
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Transcript:
Big news in Australia as 1.7 gigawatts of electrolysis for hydrogen and ammonia production get announced. RWE in Germany talks hydrogen. And big money in California gets planned for car chargers and hydrogen refueling all of this on today’s hydrogen podcast.
So the big questions in the energy industry today are, how is hydrogen the primary driving force behind the evolution of energy? Where is capital being deployed for hydrogen projects globally? And where are the best investment opportunities for early adopters who recognize the importance of hydrogen? I will address the critical issues and give you the information you need to deploy an app. Those are the questions that will unlock the potential of hydrogen and this podcast will give you the answers. My name is Paul Rodden, and welcome to the hydrogen podcast.
In a press release on November 12, Woodside driving forward renewable hydrogen in Tasmania leading Australian energy producer Woodside has secured land for its proposed H2 TAS hydrogen plant, marking another step forward in the company’s plans for large scale production of renewable hydrogen and ammonia. The land is a partially cleared site and the Austrack business park in the bell bay area of northern Tasmania, Woodside and Austrack have agreed and exclusive option for a long term lease. H2 TAS is a phased development with the potential to support up to 1.7 gigawatts of electrolysis for hydrogen and ammonia production.
The initial phase would have capacity of up to 300 megawatts and target production of 200,000 tonnes per annum of ammonia matched forecast customer demand. H2 TAS would use a combination of hydropower and wind power to create 100% renewable ammonia product for export as well as renewable hydrogen for domestic use. In January of 2021, Woodside signed a memorandum of understanding with the state of Tasmania, which outlined the Tasmanian government’s support for the H2 TAS project. The state recognizes the value of developing a hydrogen hub in the Belle Bay Area that capitalizes on Tasmania’s advantage in renewable energy generation. Woodside announced in May of 2021, a project consortium under the heads of agreement with Japanese companies, Marubeni Corporation and IHI Corporation.
The parties have completed initial feasibility studies and concluded that it is technically and commercially feasible to export ammonia to Japan from the bay Bell area. Woodside CEO Meg O’Neill said H2 TAS is aligned with the company’s strategy to develop new energy projects that were consumer led and scalable to market demand, adding lower carbon products and services to its international portfolio of world class energy assets. She’s quoted as saying H2 TAS is already garnering interest from existing and prospective Woodside customers in Asia and Europe. Combined with our landmark h2 Perth project announced last month, H2 TAS will help position Australia as a global leader in this emerging industry. Importantly, this project would also create local construction and operational jobs and new opportunities for Tasmanian businesses. Woodside is targeting a final investment decision in 2023, with construction and commissioning expected to take approximately 24 months. Okay, so more big news to come out of Australia, this time in Tasmania.
So if fid does go through and they start construction in 2023, that means a 2025 finalization period. One of the interesting pieces about this project is that it’s actually going to use hydropower along with wind power to generate the power needed to create the hydrogen. That also makes it a much more reliable source of electricity for generating the hydrogen. But the big question that everyone always asks is, will this project actually get off the ground? The answer is most likely yes. With the strong support from the Australian government, and the fact that they already have a client to deliver the ammonia to, it would make sense to move forward with this project as well as the h2 Perth project. That being said, I don’t see this moving up to the 1.7 gigawatts that it’s announced for a long, long time. Next and an article from cnbc.com.
On Anmar Frangoul writes no way around hydrogen says our RWE CEO, as firm lays out plans to invest billions in renewables. Hydrogen has a key role to play in the years ahead, especially in industrial applications. According to the CEO of German power company, RWE. Quote, when you look at long term, there is no way around hydrogen. This according to Markus Krebber, who was speaking to CNBC Annette Weisbach. In an interview broadcast Tuesday morning, Krebber claimed this was because hydrogen was, quote, the only technology we currently know which is able to decarbonize those industries which cannot electrify like steel, but also some parts of the chemical industry. Described by the International Energy Agency as a versatile energy carrier hydrogen has a diverse range of applications, and can be deployed in a number of sectors.
It can be produced in a number of ways. One method includes using electrolysis With an electric current splitting water into oxygen and hydrogen, Krebber told CNBC that it would take time to build a hydrogen economy and that his company wanted to and would play an active role, he says, but we need to be fast because I think wherever green hydrogen is available, it’s a very competitive edge for the location. Krebber’s comments came as RWE laid out plans for the next decade that will be backed by a gross investment of 50 billion euros and its core business between 2021 and 2030. And an announcement on Monday, the firm said this would mean quote, an average of 5 billion euro gross each year for offshore and onshore wind, solar batteries, flexible generation and hydrogen. Net cash investments will amount to roughly 30 billion euros across the entire period, or 3 billion euros a year. He continues by saying our growth plan is fully funded.
We can finance it with our strong operating cash flow. And then partly we do farm downs, so we’ll sell stakes in our projects or partner with others. In 2013, the company is targeting green installed net capacity of 50 gigawatts and wants an EBITA to be 5 billion euros for its core business in which nuclear and coal are excluded. Now while the company is looking to expand its renewable capacity, hydrocarbons are not out of the picture, with an installed capacity of 14 gigawatts RWE is currently operating the second largest gas fired power station fleet in Europe and additional plants with a generation capacity of at least two gigawatts, which will have a clear decarbonization roadmap, our plan at the end of last year RWE’s group installed hard coal capacity amounting to 2.2 gigawatts. lignite or brown coal capacity stood at eight and a half gigawatts. Looking to the future energy prices Krebber stretched out some of the challenges ahead.
He says long term when you think it through with the current technologies and current costs. We know I think a fully green energy world will not be more expensive than the old hydrocarbon world. The problem we are facing is that transformation has to happen in a very short period of time. He says typically we discuss investment cycles of 30 years, but now the entire transformation has to happen in 15 years, and that can create bottlenecks and drive prices. So a very interesting viewpoint from a CEO of a power company. And my biggest question to him would be what is their expected percentage split between their offshore and onshore wind, solar batteries, flexible generation and hydrogen investments in the coming years, 5 billion euros a year is a lot of money. And I would be curious to see how much of it goes into hydrogen in their plan. And last California okay’s a $1.4 billion plan for car chargers and hydrogen refueling in an article from reuters.com.
On November 16. Scott DiSavino writes the California Energy Commission has approved a three year $1.4 billion plan to help California achieve its electric vehicle charging and hydrogen refueling goals. The CEC said the plan approved on Monday it will support California Governor Gavin Newsom Executive Order phasing out the sale of new gasoline powered vehicles by 2035. And more specifically, those are passenger vehicles. The 2021 to 2023 Investment Plan Update increases the budget of the clean transportation program by six times including $1.1 billion from the 2021 to 2022 state budget, in addition to the remaining $238 million in the program funds.
According to the lead Commissioner for transportation, Patty Monahan, these dollars, close the 2025 infrastructure funding gap. So the access to charging and hydrogen fueling isn’t a barrier for those exploring cleaner transportation options. The CEC said the plan focuses on zero emissions vehicles infrastructure build out with nearly 80% available funding go into charging stations, or hydrogen refueling. The plan includes $314 million for light duty electric vehicle charging infrastructure, $690 million for medium and heavy duty zero emission vehicle infrastructure, which is battery electric and hydrogen, and $244 million for zero emissions vehicle manufacturing.
On November 19, the California Air Resources Board will consider a complementary proposal of $1.5 billion and clean transportation initiatives, including consumer vehicle rebates, and heavy duty and off road equipment investments. This again, according to the CEC. So a big announcement of California in their investment for EV recharging stations. And what makes this particularly impressive is that in addition to car chargers, they’re also installing hydrogen refueling stations. And what I’m curious about are the metrics that they’re going to use for site locations for the hydrogen fueling stations, as well as what kind of transportation infrastructure they’re going to use to move the hydrogen around.
Alright, that’s it for me everyone. If you have any questions, comments or concerns about today’s episode, come and visit me on my website at thehydrogenpodcast.com or you can always email me at info@thehydrogenpodcast.com I would really love to hear from you. And as always, take care. Stay safe. I’ll talk to you later.
Hey, this is Paul. I hope you liked this podcast. If you did and want to hear More I’d appreciate it if you would either subscribe to this channel on YouTube or connect with your favorite platform through my website at www.thehydrogenpodcast.com thanks for listening. I very much appreciate it. Have a great day.
