Pure Hydrogen deal paves way for major hydrogen hub in Victoria

Pure Hydrogen is making rapid progress in its goal of building four major hydrogen hubs on Australia’s East Coast with the inking of a new deal.

Pure Hydrogen, the fully owned hydrogen division of Real Energy (ASX:RLE), has signed a term sheet with private Australian hydrogen project development company Port Anthony Renewables to build and develop a large-scale hydrogen production facility at Port Anthony, Victoria.

The Liberty South Hydrogen facility will target initial production of 20 tonnes per day.

Under the deal, Pure Hydrogen will be the majority shareholder with a 70 per cent stake.

Port Anthony, which is linked to major road routes, is located less than 200km east of Melbourne in South Gippsland. It has continuously been used commercially since 1966 to service the Bass Strait offshore oil and gas field with project cargo, and support services to exploration, construction and production.

It is the only Victorian shipping terminal east of Melbourne that caters for handling dry-bulk cargoes.

Port Anthony Renewables executive chairman Ben Anthony says Port Anthony, and the greater surrounding area, has a long-established history of supporting Australia’s energy needs and has actively participated decade after decade in the industry.

“This change of direction is in line with both current and future community expectations. It builds on Australia’s push to decarbonise a large energy-based industry by engaging in activities that substantially reduce carbon emissions.

“This deal with Pure Hydrogen International is yet another opportunity to show Port Anthony can manoeuvre itself to continue to provide that service to Australia through a greener way of operating.

“Port Anthony will continue to undertake the same activities it has for many years, while at the same time reducing its carbon footprint.”

Establishing Australia as a hydrogen leader

In January, Pure Hydrogen entered into a joint venture with Liberty Hydrogen to build and develop four hydrogen hubs on the east coast of Australia.

Real’s wholly-owned subsidiary Pure Hydrogen Corporation owns a 60 per cent stake in the Pure Hydrogen International JV company in return for contributing two Queensland projects.

Gladstone, Mackay, Newcastle and Port Anthony South East Victoria have been identified as prime locations for Pure Hydrogen’s expansion into cutting-edge hydrogen and fuel-cell technology.

Real Energy managing director Scott Brown says Pure Hydrogen and Port Anthony Renewables are committed to building and operating a hydrogen plant at Port Anthony that encompasses best-of-breed hydrogen and fuel cell technology that is available today.

“This is an ideal site for a hydrogen hub with the necessary attributes to cater for both domestic and international markets,” he said.

“This agreement builds on our strategy of cooperating and collaborating with experienced operators to develop a significant hydrogen business capable of servicing a large customer base.

“We are making solid progress securing site control at our other three planned hubs, as well as potential new locations, as well as advancing further technology and new customer agreements, with further updates pending.”

A multi-billion-dollar opportunity

The Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) predicts Australian hydrogen exports will contribute a total of $1.7bn and 2,800 jobs to Australia’s economy by 2030.

Currently, the global demand for hydrogen and fuel cell technology is accelerating with the increasing use of methanol produced from hydrogen in gasoline in key export markets like China, South Korea, and Japan.

The latest forecasts from Deloitte show the global market for hydrogen is expected to expand at a CAGR of 5.8 per cent to $US180.2bn by 2025, with about 45 per cent of total forecast production set to come from Asia Pacific, amounting to a total of 49.7 million tonnes of hydrogen.

This article was developed in collaboration with Pure Hydrogen, 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.