Woodside advances Tasmanian hydrogen plans, eyes production by H1 2023

Sydney — Australia's largest natural gas producer Woodside has signed deals with the state of Tasmania and a local gas retailer as part of plans to develop a renewable hydrogen production facility by 2023 and potentially inject the fuel into the gas network.

"Woodside is focused on moving beyond feasibility studies and is targeting hydrogen production at H2Tas in the first half of 2023, following a targeted final investment decision in the third quarter of 2021," Woodside CEO Peter Coleman said Jan. 21.

The deal with the Tasmanian government is a Memorandum of Understanding which, Woodside says, outlines the state's support for the proposed H2TAS project at Bell Bay.

The deal with local retailer Tas Gas is a non-binding term sheet to develop a framework for blending green hydrogen into Tasmania's network.

"Our networks are relatively new and capable of safely conveying hydrogen, unlike older systems across Australia," Tas Gas CEO Phaedra Deckart said.

The proposed H2TAS includes a 10 MW pilot project capable of producing 4.5 mt/day of hydrogen for domestic use, targeting the transportation sector.