Frontier has taken another step towards the development of its Bristol Springs solar plant in WA’s southwest region with the shortlisting of two EPC contractors.

The selection of the engineering, procurement and construction contractor will be made during the fourth quarter of this year and relates only to construction of the planned 114MW Stage One solar farm.

A separate EPC tender process for the development of a 36.6MW electrolyser to produce green hydrogen will begin following completion of the preliminary Front-end engineering and design study (Pre-FEED), which is due to be released during the fourth quarter.

Frontier Energy (ASX:FHE) notes that both shortlisted contractors have significant experience in the development of industrial scale solar farms in Australia and were highly price competitive in comparison to the Green Hydrogen Preliminary Feasibility Study.

The company had previously flagged that Bristol Springs could have some of Australia’s lowest green hydrogen production costs due to its location, access to existing infrastructure, water supply and potential for the sale of excess solar power.

Additionally, an EPC contract is a key requirement for the project financing process, which is expected to commence in early 2023.

“We were pleased to have received strong interest regarding the EPC process for the Stage One solar farm development from multiple, internationally recognised construction firms,” executive chairman Grant Davey said.

“In addition, despite the high inflationary environment, the costs forecast were highly competitive and in line with the PFS estimate.”

Bristol Springs solar

The Stage One Bristol Springs solar plant will be connected to the existing Western Power 330kV transmission network via Landwehr Terminal about 4km to the northeast and will play a key role in the planned green hydrogen project.

Capital costs for the solar plant is estimated at $166m and total power generation is expected to be about 250 gigawatt hours during the first year of production.

While this is sufficient to power the planned green hydrogen facility, a separate study incorporating the total 846 hectares of land under the company’s control has found that a solar-only solution could produce at least 438MW of power.

This is nearly four times higher than the Stage One project and could deliver a corresponding increase in hydrogen production.

 

 

 

This article was developed in collaboration with Frontier Energy, a Stockhead advertiser at the time of publishing.

 

This article does not constitute financial product advice. You should consider obtaining independent advice before making any financial decisions.

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