- FID targeted for 2023, first deliveries from 2026
- Hydrogen to be shipped as synthetic methane
- CO2 captured in Germany, returned for reuse
Fortescue Future Industries and Tree Energy Solutions have partnered to supply 300,000 mt of renewable hydrogen to Europe, with a final investment decision targeted for 2023, reports Platts quoting a joint statement by the companies.
The companies said they would jointly develop industrial-scale green hydrogen production globally, with an initial focus on Australia, Europe, the Middle East and Africa, although they did not name specific production projects for the plan.
Accelerating energy transition
Platts’ Hydrogen Price Wall shows the world’s cheapest electrolysis-based hydrogen as assessed by S&P Global Commodity Insights derives from Western Australia, the US, and the Middle East. The cost of producing hydrogen by alkaline electrolysis in Western Australia averaged $3.15/kg in August, compared with $25.35/kg in the Netherlands, based on month-ahead grid power prices.
The hydrogen would be converted to synthetic methane and shipped to the planned TES import terminal in Wilhelmshaven, Germany, which is gearing up to receive its first deliveries in 2026, the companies said.
“This agreement is another steppingstone in building TES as one of the leading hydrogen players in the world to accelerate the energy transition with the most cost-effective, bankable and scalable green alternative to today’s fossil fuels,” TES CEO Marco Alvera said in the statement.
Under the agreement, FFI is to take a Eur30 million ($29.8 million) share in TES and invest Eur100 million in the construction of the Wilhelmshaven terminal.
New FSRU project
TES is to develop and manage Germany’s fifth LNG floating storage and regasification unit in Wilhelmshaven, the company said at the start of September, having been selected by the German Ministry of Economics and Climate Protection for the project.
The new FSRU project will be managed by TES in partnership with two other global players — E.ON and France’s Engie — and is to begin operations by the start of the heating season in 2023, TES said in a statement Sept. 1.
Engie will be responsible for the five-year charter of the FSRU on behalf of the German economy ministry and for part of the LNG supply into the terminal, while TES will manage the development and operation of the FSRU.
Green hydrogen import project
The green hydrogen import project will see the energy carrier shipped in the form of methane, with CO2 then captured in Germany and transported back to the supply location for reuse in a “circular, closed-loop, zero-carbon system” the companies said.
The agreement announced Oct. 5 contributes toward FFI’s deal with E.ON to supply 5 million mt of green hydrogen to Germany from the mid-2020s, FFI CEO Mark Hutchinson said in the statement.
In the lead-up to Egypt hosting the 2022 UN Climate Change Conference (COP27), FFI’s founder and Executive Chairman Andrew Forrest met Egyptian president Abdel Fattah El-Sisi to discuss the development of renewable energy projects in the Middle East, the company said in September. This follows a memorandum of understanding signed earlier to conduct studies to develop renewable hydrogen production in Egypt.
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Source: Platts
