World’s Largest Electrolyzer Plant Now Under Construction
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Gladstone, Queensland, home to one of the fossil fuel industry’s largest export hubs, will soon become home to the world’s largest electrolyzer plant. Not only that, but Fortescue Future Industries will also manufacture wind turbines, solar panels, batteries, and cables there in a Green Energy Manufacturing Centre. This is all part of the green hydrogen update in Australia.
US-based Plug Power will partner with Fortescue Future Industries (FFI) to manufacture its technology in Australia. It is expected that the electrolyzers will be used at the nearby Gibson Island hydrogen facility. Gibson Island has been used to produce fertilizer from methane. It is in the process of being converted to use green hydrogen as a feedstock.
“The electrolyser facility will have an initial capacity of two gigawatts per annum — more than doubling current global production, and enough to produce more than 200,000 tonnes of green hydrogen each year,” FFI writes.
By 2030, FFI plans to create 15 million tons of green hydrogen a year. That would require more than 200 gigawatts (GW) of new wind and solar generation and a lot more electrolyzers and clean water. “FFI’s goal is to become the world’s leading, integrated, fully renewable energy and green products company, powering the Australian economy and creating jobs for Australians as the world transitions away from fossil fuels,” FFI writes.
“Fortescue Future Industries is ahead of the curve. The electrolyzer facility is set to be complete by early next year and will quickly scale up to meet the growing demand for electrolyzers,” FFI CEO Julie Shuttleworth said. “We plan to manufacture other renewable energy components in future expansions.”
In a deal with the Queensland government, the green hydrogen projects in Gladstone will be linked to the main power grid and supplied with renewable energy from Queensland’s increasing number of renewable energy projects.
“Queensland’s constantly growing fleet of renewable power stations will provide the energy to produce green hydrogen ready for export to overseas markets like Japan and South Korea,” Queensland Deputy Premier Steven Miles said. “By working with Powerlink, FFI will receive a streamlined service across their Queensland connection developments, which could be up and running as soon as 2023.”
For background on green hydrogen, see the many CleanTechnica articles on the topic.
Featured image courtesy of FFI.
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