South Australia, Trafigura to build renewable hydrogen plant at Port Pirie

The government of South Australia and commodity trader Trafigura Group Pte. Ltd. with its metals unit Nyrstar have said they would build a plant in Port Pirie near Adelaide that would produce 100 million mt/day of renewable hydrogen at full scale, according to a Trafigura statement Dec. 9.

The state government and Trafigura will jointly invest A$5 million in front end engineering design study for the Port Pirie Green Hydrogen Project, which will see a final investment decision by end of 2022, and if approved, construction will commence in 2023, the statement said.

"We are expecting significant early interest in becoming a part of the green hydrogen precinct with early potential for the region's heavy vehicle transport industry to investigate hydrogen refueling options," Trafigura General Manager – Australia, Tim Rogers said.

"In time, it is also expected that Trafigura will be working with mining and other energy-intensive industries across the state to explore the opportunities the precinct creates for them to decarbonize through the use of green hydrogen."

The project has an estimated design and construction cost of A$750 million and it will initially produce 20 mt/day of renewable hydrogen for export in the form of green ammonia. A South Australia government press release added an 85 MW electrolyzer will be used in the first phase.

The full-scale plant will produce 100 mt/day of renewable hydrogen at full capacity from a 440 MW electrolyzer, to meet both export and domestic demand. The oxygen created in the production of hydrogen will be utilized by the Nyrstar Port Pirie smelter.

Nyrstar's Vice-President Australian Operations, Dale Webb, said that the Port Pirie Green Hydrogen Project would enable it to improve its competitiveness in the international market for zinc, lead and other metals it produces from its interconnected Port Pirie and Hobart smelters.

The South Australia government has a Climate Change Action Plan 2021-2025 under which it seeks to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by over 50% by 2030 and achieve net zero emissions by 2050.

Other hydrogen projects in South Australia include H2U's Eyre Peninsula Gateway project and the AGIG's project involving a 1.25 MW electrolyzer facility at Tonsley, which is blending renewable hydrogen into the existing gas network in nearby Mitchell Park.

S&P Global Platts assessed South Australia hydrogen produced via alkaline electrolysis at A$0.71/kg Dec. 8, down 72.37% from Nov. 8.

Queensland hydrogen produced via coal gasification with CCS, including CAPEX, was assessed at A$3.66/kg Dec. 8, down 15.08% from Nov. 8.