BP is involved in the Hydrogen Mega Project in Australia

LONDON (Energate) – Oil company BP is participating in one of the world’s largest green hydrogen projects in Australia. The British company will take up 40.5 per cent of the so-called “Asian Renewable Energy Hub” (AREH). BP is also responsible for operating planned solar and wind power plants With a capacity of 26,000 MW. BP has announced that plants in the Bilbara area of ​​Western Australia covering an area of ​​about 6,500 square kilometers will generate about 90 billion kWh of electricity per year. On the one hand, customers will be locally industrialized. However, solar and wind power also provided the energy needed to produce 1.6 million tons of green hydrogen or 9 million tons of ammonia for international sales markets each year.

“HySupply”: Hydrogen bridge possible between Australia and Germany

The German side has a keen interest in importing hydrogen from Australia. Need appropriate improvements eon And RWE Already finished. However, it is still questionable whether it would be economical to purchase hydrogen over such a large distance. The joint project “HySupply” is now a joint venture between the German and Australian governments Interim results Established the possibility of building a hydrogen bridge between the two countries. Accordingly, large imports of durable Australian hydrogen make technical and economic sense. The shipping of hydrogen is not a legal impediment.

The project is in the long-term approval process

But Australia also sometimes faces problems with lengthy approval procedures. The plans for the “Asian Renewable Energy Center” were already presented in 2014, after which the plan went through various approval processes and eventually failed due to environmental concerns, according to various media reports. The entry of the well-known energy company along with the newly elected Australian government promises greater climate protection, which will give new impetus to the project, so it is hoped.

AREH aims to contribute to Australia’s energy transformation

Bilbara in Western Australia is a mining area with significant energy requirements and carbon emissions. The AREH project aims to contribute to structural change in the region. BP Vice President Anja-Isabel Dotzenrath stressed that the project is of utmost importance for Australian energy transformation and to provide green energy to the Asia-Pacific region. Australia is currently one of the top three exporters of fossil fuels in the world. In addition to BP, hydrogen producer InterContinental Energy (26.4%) and investment firms CWP Global (17.8%) and Macquarie (15.3%) hold shares in AREH. BP did not provide any information on the investment amount. / Ml