New Developer Plans to Make Green Hydrogen in Australia's Tiwi Islands

Global Energy Ventures (GEV), an Australian energy transition company, intends to add to the continent's growing list of green hydrogen export facilities with a new 2.8 GW solar-to-H2 project.

The Tiwi hydrogen project, which will have the capacity to produce up to 100,000 tons per annum of green hydrogen for export into the Asia-Pacific region, will be located on the Tiwi Islands, off the coast of the Northern Territory. 

The company said that development of the Tiwi project will run in parallel with its vessel engineering and class approval program, and a financial investment decision is expected in 2023 for the initial phase. The phase-one development would have a capacity of 0.5 GW, allowing first hydrogen exports to commence in 2026 (subject to approvals and purchase agreements). 

The project will deliver a fully-integrated green hydrogen production and export supply chain, beginning with a fleet of small vessels to carry compressed H2. The company is already in the process of developing a pilot-scale vessel capable of carrying 430 tons of hydrogen by the mid-2020s.

“Our compressed shipping solution is highly modular and can therefore scale to match the advancement of electrolyzer technologies and market demand for pure green hydrogen gas, and deliver a competitive cost of hydrogen as the project scales,” said Martin Carolan, GEV's CEO.

The company settled on the Tiwi Islands - which are located along the northernmost part of Australia - because they offer an advantageous location for shipping to Asia-Pacific markets like Singapore, Indonesia, South Korea and Japan. 

While GEV will start small with a 500 MW installation, the proposed 1,800 hectare site has the potential to expand to up to 2.8 GW of solar power generation, the company says.