FWIW, seeing as I shared that Atco story above, here (in the spoiler) is a more comprehensive media story from Giles Parkinson at Renew Economy.
It appears a main issue was the distance at which the project - in the Western Australian mid-west is located resulting in transport costs which Atco considered unviable.
I can’t find any mentions of Primero in relation to this project the reneging on which returns a $28.3m renewable energy grant from ARENA into the system..
Spoiler : See here https://reneweconomy.com.au/austral...-due-to-transport-costs-pumped-hydro-on-hold/
Australian green hydrogen project scrapped due to transport costs, pumped hydro on hold Giles Parkinson 32 Canadian gas giant Atco says it has scrapped plans for one of the first commercial scale green hydrogen projects in Australia, despite strong funding support from the government’s renewable agency, and has also put a proposed pumped hydro project in NSW on hold. Atco had planned to build a 10MW green hydrogen electrolyser next to Bright Energy’s 180MW Warradarge wind farm in Western Australia (pictured above), fuelling the plant with renewable energy and producing 4.3 tonnes of green hydrogen a year. It was one of three green hydrogen projects chosen by the Australian Renewable Energy Agency in 2021 to share in a total of more than $103 million in grants But Atco’s $53 million Clean Energy Innovation Park – also known as the Mid West project – has been scrapped because it would involve trucking the hydrogen to points where it can be injected into the gas network.Clean Energy Innovation Hub. The use of green hydrogen in Australia’s economy has been much hyped, but some of the original touted uses are likely to fall by the wayside, particularly given the rise of battery electric vehicles, and the decision by many big miners to choose battery electric over hydrogen for haulage trucks. There are also questions about the viability, and the wisdom, of using green hydrogen at scale in gas pipelines. “While we were initially confident we could build CEIP at Warradarge, our ongoing assessment and market development found the benefits of being closer to the end-user of the renewable hydrogen was more commercially viable than locating the CEIP in a more remote location,” the company said in a statement. Meanwhile, Atco has also revealed that it has put a proposed pumped hydro project near Bathurst in NSW on hold while it seeks clarity over the state government’s policy frameworks.the only winner was an eight hour battery Kidston pumped hydro project in Queensland ”
And whilst I am here, in the vein of with companies starting with ‘A’ it might be worth keeping an eye on global group Altrad which appears to be ramping up services which put it in direct competition with NRW’s METs division
https://www.altradservices-apac.com/2023/04/01/altrad-acquisition-ausgroup/
— As per the link above it acquired Western Australian services group Ausgroup out of liquidation ( it had been listed in Singapore but was put into administration last year)
[ref] for $8m a few months back.
see also
[Bad debts August 22]
Which would be fine by me except it appears it has decided to populate it’s new division with Primero people - or at least one Primero person; General Manager of Projects West, Dhruv Patel who - after more than half a dozen years at Primero has switched loyalties to the same job description at Altrad
[linkedinPrimero ] ,
[linkedin Altrad] .
hmphhh :/
I know it’s a cut throat world out there and there are big executive shortages and NRW is doing its’ share of head hunting too but the man seems to be working on exactly the same project targets :/.
Anyway if anyone wants to be reassuring, please go ahead.
You most of all please Jules!
cheers
(20min delay)