Stanwell locks in land for Central Queensland green hydrogen project

Extract from Stanwell

8 June 2021

Another major milestone has been reached in the establishment of a large-scale hydrogen industry in Central Queensland with publicly owned generator Stanwell securing land for its proposed 3,000 MW green hydrogen electrolysis facility at Aldoga, 20 km west of Gladstone.

Stanwell, in partnership with Japan’s largest domestic hydrogen supplier Iwatani Corporation, is developing a large-scale hydrogen project in Central Queensland, with the view to producing green hydrogen for export to Japan and use in local Gladstone industries.

Stanwell acting CEO Adam Aspinall said Stanwell and Iwatani’s proposed project could drive the development of Queensland’s green hydrogen supply chain and export industry and create jobs for regional Queenslanders.

“The development of a large-scale green hydrogen industry in Central Queensland will support the growth of renewables, create jobs and provide access to global export opportunities,” he said.

“It will drive renewable and manufacturing investment and development and attract high quality jobs and investment to the region.

“At its peak, Stanwell and Iwatani’s proposed green hydrogen export project would provide over 5,000 new jobs, $4.2 billion in hydrogen exports and $10 billion to Queensland’s Gross State Product over its 30-year life.

“It would also benefit construction, utilities, heavy manufacturing and a range of local service industries.”

Mr Aspinall said that signing an option agreement with Economic Development Queensland to secure land for the green hydrogen production facility was an exciting step towards the proposed project becoming a reality.

“When built, Stanwell and Iwatani’s proposed green hydrogen project would be the largest in Queensland, commencing in the mid-2020s and scaling up to over 3,000 MW of electrolysis capacity by the early 2030s,” he said.

“Stanwell investigated a range of locations for the proposed plant, with the 236-hectare site at Aldoga being identified as the preferred location due to its size and proximity to port, power and pipeline infrastructure.

“The site is located within the Gladstone State Development Area and is zoned for large-scale industrial development.

“It is also located near the Queensland Government’s proposed Central Queensland Renewable Energy Zone, which would provide good access to renewable energy sources required to power the plant.”

Mr Aspinall said that Stanwell had been investigating hydrogen opportunities since 2018.

“We recently completed a joint planning study for the project with Iwatani and we are now building a broader consortium of Japanese and Australian companies to progress the project to the next stage (detailed Feasibility Study) in the second half of 2021,” he said.

“As a business, we are progressing a range of future energy solutions to ensure we are in the best position possible to respond to changing market conditions and to meet customer needs and community sentiment for greener products and lower emissions.

“We are investigating a range of opportunities to incorporate technologies into our asset portfolio, including hydrogen, energy storage, wind, solar and bioenergy.”