Hexagon is chasing the hydrogen future after closing Pedirka buy

Hexagon has completed the acquisition of Ebony Energy, granting it full control of the Pedirka blue hydrogen project in the Northern Territory.

The acquisition is timely given the Australian government’s commitment to provide $275.5m in funding to develop four regional clean hydrogen hubs and $263.7m for carbon capture and storage technology in its upcoming budget.

Hexagon Energy Materials (ASX:HXG) says it will immediately commence the development timeline for the Pedirka Blue Hydrogen project with the start of a pre-feasibility study that is scheduled for completion this year.

Blue hydrogen uses carbon capture and storage to eliminate carbon emissions from its production process, which is key to the Australian government’s hydrogen strategy.

The company is working with government and private sector bodies to put in place agreements to accelerate the pathway to production of hydrogen to meet the projected growth in demand in the Asia Pacific region.

“The combined Hexagon/Ebony group has a bright future, with blue hydrogen set to provide the gateway for the conversion to hydrogen economies over the coming decades,” chairman Charles Whitfield said.

“We will continue to position the company to have a role in the now unfolding efforts by Australia and overseas countries to reshape their energy sources in a world focussed on carbon neutral outcomes.”

Pedirka Blue Hydrogen project

The Pedirka project covers 800sqkm of coal tenements about 200km southeast of Alice Sprints in Northern Territory’s Pedirka Basin.

Hexagon plans to extract the coal as feedstock for a gasification plant that will produce hydrogen from coal for export or domestic markets.

With its proximity to existing oil and gas infrastructure offering advantages for large scale hydrogen production, the company will use a zero-carbon emissions steam reformation process to produce clean hydrogen.

Carbon dioxide emissions will be captured and sequestered underground or used for enhanced oil recovery projects.

Hexagon had previously flagged that it will carry out drilling to underpin a JORC resource to underpin the PFS.

This article was developed in collaboration with Hexagon Energy Materials, 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.