Woodside Energy has withdrawn environmental applications it had submitted for a 300MW hydrogen production project in Tasmania.
The H2Tas project, located at the Bell Bay site, was set to install a 300MW electrolyser capable of producing 107 tonnes of hydrogen per day, with plans to export around 600 tonnes of the resulting ammonia.
However, the company’s Half Year Report revealed, “Subsequent to the period, Woodside withdrew environmental applications submitted under the Environmental Management and Pollution Control Act 1994 and Environmental Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999.
“Woodside continues to assess the viability of this potential opportunity.”
Originally, Woodside’s production facility was set to form a part of the Bell Bay Hydrogen Hub, which was awarded up to $45.9m earlier this year, with the aim of being operational by 2028.
Read more: Australian Government supports Tasmanian hydrogen hub with AUD$70m
H2Tas was planned to eventually become a 1.7GW hydrogen export facility located in the industrial Austrak Business Park. Feasibility studies from Marubeni Corporation and IHI Corporation confirmed that exporting ammonia to Japan was technically and commercially viable.
Despite a final investment decision (FID) expected for 2023, the Tasmanian Government ultimately announced hydrogen grants would only be for projects serving the domestic market.
Attention at Woodside has instead turned to OCI Global’s clean ammonia project in Texas, the US, which is set to produce 1.1 million tonnes per year of the hydrogen carrier.
Read more: Woodside to acquire OCI Global’s clean ammonia facility for $2.35bn
In August (2024), the Australian global energy company entered into a binding equity purchase agreement with OCI for the sale of 100% of its equity interests.
