Inexperienced hydrogen will get massive increase with Frontier takeover of Waroona Power – pv journal Australia

December 21, 2023 Carrie Hampel

Frontier Power’s acquisition of Waroona Power combines two large-scale Western Australian photo voltaic tasks with ultimate circumstances and curiosity in producing inexperienced hydrogen.

Frontier is creating the Bristol Springs Renewable Power Venture with improvement approvals for a complete photo voltaic era capability of 355 MW whereas Waroona has been creating the namesake 241 MW photo voltaic undertaking on the adjoining property, about 120 kilometres south of state capital Perth.

The 2 firms will now be becoming a member of forces to drive their a number of value-adding initiatives ahead with new chief government and chief operations officers appointed for the newly mixed firm to help additional improvement. This features a spate of research which are to be finalised in early 2024, together with inexperienced hydrogen manufacturing, hydrogen consumption in a peaking energy plant, and utility-scale battery storage.

In asserting the acquisition, Frontier stated that the mixed tasks maintain important renewable vitality enlargement potential, with the corporate now controlling two grid connections able to exporting greater than 1 GW of renewable vitality to the grid. Frontier additionally has freehold landholding of 868 hectares, which it stated is good for photo voltaic, hydrogen and different renewable vitality alternatives.

Frontier launched a definitive feasibility examine on its Bristol Springs Hydrogen Venture in March 2023, highlighting the undertaking’s potential to be one of many lowest-cost inexperienced hydrogen tasks in Australia.

For its half, Waroona stated in an organization evaluation and administration doc that it has already commenced a examine to evaluate a minimal 100 MW hydrogen-fuelled (twin gas) peaking energy facility at its Waroona Photo voltaic Power Venture. This examine will now be accomplished with the help of Frontier beneath their current collaboration agreements made previous to the takeover.

Twin gas peaking vegetation are designed to stability the fluctuating energy requirement within the electrical energy community and function during times of high-level demand for electrical energy or shortfalls of electrical energy provide. The deliberate peaking plant is to be fuelled by renewable hydrogen produced from the photo voltaic vitality generated on the Waroona Photo voltaic Power Venture and/or Frontier’s Bristol Springs Renewable Power Venture. This will likely be backed up by fuel sourced from suppliers and transported through the Dampier to Bunbury Pure Gasoline Pipeline.

New administration

With the takeover of Waroona Power, Frontier is restructuring its senior administration staff to give attention to undertaking execution forward of deliberate remaining funding resolution for its 120 MWdc photo voltaic farm. The previous CEO of Waroona Power, Adam Kiley, will now turn out to be CEO of Frontier Power on account of his 20 years of expertise in fairness capital markets and debt financing sectors.

The technical and engineering facet of the multidisciplinary undertaking will likely be led by Warrren King as COO. King is an engineer with 25 years of expertise, specialising in undertaking administration of engineering, design, procurement and development.

Govt Chair Grant Davey defined: “As we advance in direction of a improvement resolution in 1H2024, which incorporates the supply of ultimate improvement research, each fairness and debt financing, procurement and undertaking execution, the Board determined it was the proper time to realign and strengthen the senior administration staff to give attention to undertaking financing and improvement execution.”

Good timing and site

Incoming CEO Adam Kiley described the challenges the newly mixed firm can handle: rising vitality costs with rising demand and restricted new era capability coming into the market resulting from grid constraints.

The realm is a part of the Collie and Kwinana industrial precincts, dwelling to the Griffin coal plant which was solely simply stored alive with a lift of $220 million (USD 146 million) from the state authorities.

“I imagine the chance at Bristol Springs is one among Australia’s finest undeveloped renewable vitality tasks, and it has an amazing head begin given the huge infrastructure already in place,” Kiley stated.

“This could not solely lead to robust monetary returns, which will likely be highlighted in quite a lot of upcoming research, however may also contribute to offering safety for WA’s vitality necessities by this vitality transition.”

Frontier stated it stays absolutely funded till FID for Stage One.

Frontier, previously Superior Lake Sources, and Waroona Power, previously Metallum Sources, have been each previously primarily engaged in mineral useful resource industries till not too long ago. Waroona nonetheless has a zinc undertaking in Canada. Each firms recognised important development alternatives in renewable vitality, notably in decarbonising mineral extraction and refining industries, such because the close by aluminium mining actions within the space of their Bristol Lake/Waroona photo voltaic and renewable hydrogen tasks.

The Frontier Power renewable vitality hub will likely be in good firm for upcoming renewable vitality tasks. In September 2023, the Western Australian authorities awarded contracts for its 500 MW/2,000 MWh massive battery in Collie and the 200 MW/800 MWh extension to the present Kwinana battery. One other massive renewable vitality undertaking for the manufacturing of inexperienced hydrogen is at present being put by a feasibility examine, which was introduced in April 2022. In Might this 12 months, Perth-based firm Worldwide Graphite chosen the popular web site for its proposed Collie graphite battery anode materials (BAM) manufacturing facility. This firm plans to ship a feasibility examine for the power within the third quarter of 2024.