Out with coal. In with hydrogen and electricity. In a nutshell that’s the plan starting to take shape in Australia as it switches from being a major supplier of coal and gas to Asia into a renewable energy powerhouse.
It won’t happen overnight, but a series of recent developments highlight the potential for the world’s driest continent to convert its excess heat and sunshine into commercially viable exports.
Australian sunshine ready for export to Asia
The latest, and most ambitious of a series of proposed developments is for the construction of the world’s biggest wind and solar project costing an estimated $73 billion and spread over 1.6 million acres of the remote East Pilbara region in Australia’s north-west corner.
Electricity generated from 1600 wind turbines and solar panels covering 19,000 acres in a project called the Asian Renewable Energy Hub (AREH) will be converted into hydrogen and ammonia.
The AREH development, which is reported to have the backing of major equipment makers such as Vestas, Denmark’s wind turbine leader and Macquarie Bank, was last week granted major-project status by the Australian Government.
Energy and Emissions Minister, Angus Taylor, said AREH had the potential to transform the East Pilbara and contribute to a major new export industry.
Australian Energy and Emissions Minister Angus Taylor. Photo by Sam Mooy Getty Images.
Hydrogen is made using electricity to electrolyze water, separating it into oxygen and hydrogen atoms. When burned it does not create greenhouse gases and can be converted into ammonia for easy shipping.
The key to the East Pilbara location is its vast open spaces to host big solar and wind farms and abundant sunshine.
From LNG To Hydrogen
An irony is that region is also home to Australia’s biggest gas exporting industry with a series of liquefied natural gas (LNG) projects operated by global oil majors, including Chevron and Shell. LNG is essentially methane, a greenhouse gas blamed in part for climate change.
Matching the AREH hydrogen project in Western Australia is a smaller, but similar, development planned for Australia’s Northern Territory with the major difference being that electricity produced from wind turbines and solar panels will be exported via cable to Asia with Singapore a prime target.
The $22 billion Sun Cable project will be located near the remote inland town of Tennant Creek and connected to Asia via the proposed Australian-ASEAN Power Link.
Sun Cable was granted major project status by the Australian Government in July with that designation clearing the way for rapid approvals by government regulatory agencies.
Australian sun power earmarked for Asia
Taylor said when announcing Sun Cable that it and other projects based on renewable energy would help Australia maintain its position as world leader in exporting energy.
The rush to harness the sun in Australia continued yesterday when the South Australian Government launched what it called a “hydrogen prospectus” which envisions three costal hubs which could become sources of hydrogen for export.
Hydrogen and exportable electricity are emerging as significant new Australian energy exports as demand for much of the country’s coal declines, especially thermal coal which is burned to produce electricity.
Metallurgical coal, used in the steel-making process, is not as effected yet by growing global demand for reduced greenhouse gas emissions.
