6 GW green export project planned for South Australia
By on November 23, 2021
The Moolawatana Renewable Hydrogen Project will be constructed on a cattle station north some 570km north of Adelaide, South Australia’s capital city. Powered by a mixture of wind and solar generation, the project will connect to an export facility at Port Bonython (around 500km in distance) via pipeline. Water will be sourced from an on-site desalination plant. At this stage, the pipeline will be for dedicated hydrogen transport, and conversion to ammonia will take place at Port Bonython. The Port is being developed as a major hydrogen & ammonia export hub, with the SA state government recently shortlisting seven major projects totaling 1.5 million tonnes per year green hydrogen export.
The Moolawatana project is being developed by Kallis Energy Investments, who are also involved with the proposed 5 GW Murchison Renewable Hydrogen project in Western Australia, and the Star of the South offshore wind farm currently under development in Victoria.
Situated just east of the northern Flinders Ranges in the state’s north, the location has one of the best combinations of wind and solar resources in Australia that could facilitate cost effective production of green hydrogen for export to global markets – notably Japan and Korea.
“The project has the potential to contribute significantly to national, state and local objectives for new investment, new jobs, renewable energy sources and new export markets” said Terry Kallis, Chairman of Kallis Energy Investments.
“For example, if the project is built to its maximum of 6000 MW, it would contribute about 40% of the State’s goal for 500% renewables by 2050.”“Importantly, the development of a global hydrogen industry in Australia has the strong support of both sides of politics in SA and indeed across Australia creating a good environment for investment.”
Official press release from Kallis Energy Investments, 17 Nov 2021
Pipeline transport?
Pipeline transport infrastructure already exists in South Australia’s northeast. Gas fields in the state’s northeast (Moomba, not shown in picture) are connected with an existing natural gas processing and export facility at Port Bonython via a gas & liquids pipeline (pipeline’s rough path is shown in green). An additional gas-only pipeline connects Moomba and Port Adelaide (pipeline’s rough path is shown in blue).
It’s important to recognise that project is in a pre-feasibility stage, and no contracts have been signed or terms agreed to. But, Moolawatana Station is ideally situated adjacent to both these existing pipelines, and thus has an existing transport network to tap into and move its hydrogen & ammonia products to local and global markets.
