Article out of SMH. Hydrogen starting to get some traction.
Australia’s grand hydrogen export ambition faces its first market test with Japan’s largest power generator calling for competitive bids to supply the hydrogen product ammonia as it attempts to cut carbon emissions in its coal-fired power plants.However, the terms of the bid exclude fuel from a showpiece $1 billion hydrogen plant Australian energy giant Woodside plans to build near Perth.Woodside’s proposed H2Perth hydrogen plant in Kwinana, south of Perth will mainly be powered by gas.On Friday JERA announced it needed up to 500,000 tonnes of ammonia a year from 2027, into the 2040s.JERA, a fuel procurement and power generation joint venture between the power utilities that serve Tokyo and Chubu, plans to replace some coal burnt in its power stations with ammonia that releases no carbon emissions.AdvertisementMartin Tengler, a hydrogen analyst with energy research house BloombergNEF, said if a deal is concluded it would be significant.“It’s the first large Asian buyer asking for supply, rather than a supplier looking for a buyer,” he said.Mr Tengler said 500,000 tonnes of ammonia a year, which requires 88,000 tonnes of hydrogen, was enough to supply 20 per cent of the fuel to a one-gigawatt power plant.Green hydrogen is produced from electrolysers powered by renewable energy to separate hydrogen from water and is emissions-free.Currently, nearly all the world’s hydrogen is produced by splitting natural gas into hydrogen and carbon dioxide, with significant carbon emissions. If some carbon dioxide is captured and stored the product is marketed as blue hydrogen.AdvertisementRELATED ARTICLE
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