Green hydrogen studies among microgrid winners

Green hydrogen of ever increasing scale and grandeur are being proposed, but there remains a large amount of work ahead of proponents to establish how these developments can be established at scale.

One area where it is believed green hydrogen will be important is remote areas outside of major electricity grids.

A couple of hydrogen trial studies have been successful in getting funding from the latest round of the Federal Government’s Regional and Remote Communities Reliability Fund.

One of interest is located in Esperance, not far from the site proposed for the world’s largest green hydrogen project on WA’s South Coast.

Synergy has operated a wind farm for a number of years at the remote WA community around 700km south-east of Perth. With the development of a new power plant next year, around 5.6MW of wind assets will go unused.

Local State-owned power provider Horizon Power will use a $700,000 grant to explore the feasibility of a ‘hub and spoke’ hydrogen model.

They want green hydrogen to transport and be used to decarbonise diesel-reliant towns of Hopetoun (home to workers on the Ravensthorpe nickel mine) and Norseman, and supply future 3rd generation ‘zero diesel’ Standalone Power Systems in the region.

Another ~$550,000 grant has been given to Ergon Energy Corporation to run a feasibility study into hydrogen hubs at Horn Island and Townsville in far north Queensland.

All up $25.6 million was doled out for microgrid studies, including in remote indigenous communities and communities impacted by bushfires.

 

International bidders up Spark stakes

Spark Infrastructure (ASX:SKI) has opened its books to the international bidders circling the energy infrastructure play after Kohlberg Kravis Roberts and the Ontario Teachers Pension Fund upped their offer from $2.80 to $2.95 a share.

Minus the company’s interim dividend, the offer has an implied value of A$2.8875 a share.

KKR and Ontario Teacher lobbed the initial $5 billion bid earlier this month as Spark revealed plans for Australia’s biggest renewable energy hub, a 2.5GW wind, solar and battery precinct in the South West Renewable Energy Zone in New South Wales.

Having previously given limited information to the bidders, they will now be given access to complete full due diligence on a “non-exclusive basis”.

Spark shares are up 27.8% year to date to $2.74, mostly since the takeover bid was announced a fortnight ago.

 

 

Spark Infrastructure share price today:

 

 

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