Global Energy Ventures (GEV) is behind the effort, having today (Oct 27) confirmed plans for the 100,000-tonnes-per-year project that will utilise the Islands’ renewable energy to produce its hydrogen.

Once produced, GEV’s 430-tonne compressed hydrogen ships will then transport the hydrogen to other markets that need the fuel.

Martin Carolan, CEO and Managing Director of GEV, said, “The strategic rationale for GEV to develop a landmark upstream renewable energy for green hydrogen production project is to demonstrate a simplicity and efficiency of using compression for a pipe-to-pipe green hydrogen supply chain and to provide greater certainty in the commercialisation of our shipping solution.

“Our compressed shipping solution is highly modular and can therefore scale to match the advancement of electrolyser technologies and market demand for pure green hydrogen gas and deliver the competitive cost of hydrogen as the project scales.

“The support of the Northern Territory Government also demonstrates the Territory’s strategy and vision to be a world-scale producer and exporter of renewable hydrogen.”

To achieve the above, it is hoped that a final investment decision will be reached by 2023 for the initial phase of a 0.5GW development, which will see the first hydrogen export take place in 2026.

From this point, the project will continue to grow until it reaches the full 2.8GW.

Supporting this, Eva Lawler, Northern Territory Government Minister for Renewables and Energy, said, “I welcome GEV’s announcement that it has selected the Tiwi islands for its renewable hydrogen project and that it is working closely with the Tiwi Land Council and the Traditional Owners of the land.

“With our world-class solar resources and our proximity to key export markets, the Northern Territory is an ideal place to generate renewable hydrogen to meet the future demand within our region.”