SINGAPORE - Keppel Corporation said on Friday that it has joined a consortium to develop a large-scale hydrogen project in Queensland, Australia.
It also inked a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Incitec Pivot, Australia’s top fertiliser maker, to explore the development of a green ammonia production facility in Queensland.
The group said its participation in the green hydrogen project consortium will give it access to a ready and reliable source of hydrogen as feedstock for the green production facility it plans to develop with Incitec Pivot and other potential partners.
Keppel will join the Central Queensland hydrogen (CQ-H2) project consortium, which includes participation from Stanwell, Iwatani, Kansai Electric Power Company and Marubeni.
The CQ-H2 project has ambitions to produce renewable hydrogen for the Japan and Singapore markets to be delivered via different carriers, as well as supplied to customers in central Queensland. Production may scale up to around 2,500 megawatts of hydrogen.
The consortium has initiated a front-end engineering design (Feed) study, with a final investment decision planned for late 2024 and commercial operations targeted for 2028.
Keppel said the Feed represents the largest investment in an Australian renewable hydrogen project of its kind to date.
The green ammonia production facility it is looking to develop with Incitec Pivot will include an end-to-end export supply chain to Singapore and Asia.
The facility will supply ammonia to Australian markets to support the decarbonisation of Incitec Pivot’s domestic manufacturing assets and export ammonia to Singapore to meet Keppel’s zero or low-emission power generation needs. Excess green ammonia will be marketed and sold to Asia customers.
The group’s MOU with Incitec Pivot follows an earlier feasibility study on producing green ammonia for export, commenced by both parties and Temasek in 2021.
Keppel and Incitec Pivot will work closely with the Queensland government on essential infrastructure requirements, licences and approvals for the projects.
Cameron Dick, Queensland’s treasurer and Minister for Trade and Investment, said: “After a number of discussions with Keppel, we are delighted the company and Incitec Pivot have chosen Gladstone for their green ammonia production facility. This will open exciting and significant export possibilities, let alone regional jobs.”
Keppel does not expect the two projects to have any material impact on its earnings per share and net tangible asset per share for the current financial year, it said.
Its shares were trading up four cents, or 0.6 per cent, at $6.35 as at 9.37am on Friday. THE BUSINESS TIMES
