Woodside Petroleum’s Planned USD 1 Billion Hydrogen and Ammonia Plants to Boost Australia’s exports

Australia’s petroleum and gas major, Woodside Petroleum Ltd., with support from the Western Australia government, will be investing USD 1 billion in ‘H2Perth’, a project dedicated to establishing hydrogen and ammonia production facilities in the Kwinana and Rockingham areas in southern Perth. The designed project targets generation of 1500 tonnes of hydrogen every day that will help boost the domestic energy supplies and escalate overseas export of liquid hydrogen and ammonia.

The project will be executed phase-wise, where the first phase will facilitate the production of blue hydrogen to up to three-fourth of the total production and the remaining production volume will be of green hydrogen. The 130 hectares production site, leased from the state government, has been finalized due to its positioning in the vicinity of the existing gas, water, power, and port infrastructure. The construction of the project is scheduled to start in 2024.

‘Blue hydrogen’ is the term given to the hydrogen which is produced from fossil fuels like natural gas through the steam reforming process which emits copious amount of carbon dioxide which is captured and sequestered to eliminate the chances of carbon dioxide emission in the atmosphere. On the other hand, ‘green hydrogen’ is the name coined for hydrogen produced from the electrochemical splitting of water (a renewable source) in an electrolyzer that runs on power generated from renewable sources like solar or wind energy. Hydrogen has many important applications that include fuelling transport, petroleum refining, metal treatment, fertilizer and industrial chemicals production.

As per ChemAnalyst, the demand for hydrogen across the globe is anticipated to grow at a CAGR of over 5% with the world transitioning to low-carbon energy sources. The commissioning of hydrogen and ammonia plants in Perth is expected to ease out the hydrogen supply pressure in Western Australia. The company is set to benefit heavily from the energy exports to the overseas market which will aid in expanding the company’s global footprint and improve its brand value in the international market. With the majority of the population looking forward to sustainable energy, the new production plants will prove to be a profitable venture for the company and the country as a whole.