Global Energy Ventures Ltd (ASX:GEV) continues to march toward a fully integrated green hydrogen supply chain with the planned development of a production and export project on the Tiwi Islands in the Northern Territory of Australia.
An energy transition company with a mission to deliver compressed shipping solutions for transportation to regional markets, GEV is expanding its operations beyond compression and shipping solutions to provide a first-to-last green hydrogen export chain.
This project has been planned with stepped construction, beginning with 0.5 gigawatts of solar-generated power, and eventually expanding to 2.8 gigawatts and 100,000 tonnes per annum of green hydrogen export as the project develops and the market expands.
The delayed construction will take advantage of cost and efficiency improvements expected to be realised in photovoltaics, electrolysers and shipping.
“Simplicity and efficiency”
“The strategic rationale for GEV to develop a landmark upstream renewable energy and green hydrogen production project is to demonstrate the 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,” GEV managing director and CEO Martin Carolan said.
“This project can transition GEV from a midstream service provider to an innovative hydrogen company.
“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 a 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.”
Shares higher
This news has seen GEV shares as much as 14.85% higher to A$0.155, a new high of more than 18 months.
The company foresees a dramatic increase in future demand for hydrogen, especially in the Asia-Pacific region, where it would be well placed near one of Australia’s northern-most ports to distribute its product.
World-class solar resources
The Tiwi Islands are at the northernmost tip of Australia, just off the coast of mainland Northern Territory. There has been an unbroken history of occupation and ownership of the islands by the Tiwi people.
GEV is working closely with the Tiwi Land Council and Munupi Landowners who hold the rights to the land lease the company intends to develop. An 1,800-hectare brownfield site previously cleared for plantations with high solar intensity has been selected for the facility, expected to provide all the green energy GEV needs to produce its hydrogen.
Northern Territory Government Minister for Renewables and Energy Eva Lawler 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.
“We look forward to supporting GEV through our investment facilitation team to progress the project through to operation.”
There are no Native Title conflicts for GEV to address, as a clear and established process for GEV to negotiate with the Tiwi Land Council and Munupi Landowners for a Section 19 Lease/Licence for the proposed solar site already exists.
Carefully selected site
Little environmental disturbance will be necessary for GEV to execute its current development plan, which involves using 6% of land already cleared for plantations and installing desalination facilities to reduce the impact of water consumption by electrolysers.
The company will also seek to maximise the potential of local water catchment, possibly through infrastructure projects. Transport infrastructure already exists at the site in the form of an access road, a nearby industrial precinct, and existing port facilities.
“Today’s announcement of the Tiwi Hydrogen Project is the result of over six months of research, analysis and consultation to gain the support of key stakeholders, including the Tiwi Land Council, the Munupi Landowners, Northern Territory Government, Tiwi Plantation Corporation, NT Port and Marine and a number of technology vendors,” GEV executive director and chief development officer Garry Triglavcanin said.
“I would like to personally thank the Tiwi Land Council and the Munupi Landowners for welcoming GEV to the Tiwi Islands and their ongoing trust and support.
“The project will deliver social and economic benefits to the Tiwi community in the form of employment, skills training and education on a long-term sustainable basis. GEV has worked closely with key Tiwi stakeholders to ensure the project will have a low environmental impact on the Tiwi Islands.
“This has been achieved by selecting previously cleared and developed plantation land for the solar farm, existing right of way for the transmission line, as well as locating the hydrogen production facilities at an existing industrial precinct, adjacent to existing port infrastructure for export.
“GEV has completed a pre-feasibility level analysis that has identified this location as being highly suited to our compressed hydrogen shipping solution due to its close proximity to Asia-Pacific markets.”
Compressed hydrogen supply chain
The scalable nature of GEV’s compressed hydrogen shipping technology enables a phased development and construction timeframe, which will run in parallel with the company’s ship engineering and class approval program.
A financial investment decision for the project is expected in 2023 for the initial phase, allowing hydrogen export to commence in 2026 if requisite commercial and regulatory approvals and customer offtake have been secured.
Export from the site will commence with a fleet of the company’s 430-tonne compressed hydrogen ships, allowing GEV to take full advantage of its own compressed shipping solution to preclude the need for expensive onshore hydrogen storage.
The company intends to marry offloading with daily and seasonal solar generation, necessitating only a small battery storage facility.
Next steps
- GEV has and will continue working with the Tiwi Land Council and Munupi Landowners, given the responsibility to ensure that the Tiwi Hydrogen Project delivers community benefits to the Tiwi people, in the form of leasehold payments, employment and supporting power and water infrastructure;
- GEV to fast track the installation of solar monitoring stations at several locations, allowing GEV to establish bankable solar generation data for the proposed project location;
- GEV to continue working with the Tiwi Plantation Corporation, Tiwi Land Council and Munupi Landowners to progress securing a Section 19 Lease/Licence over the proposed solar site. The solar site has previously been cleared of native vegetation and zoned for plantation use;
- GEV to continue working with NT Port and Marine (a subsidiary of AusGroup Limited) to integrate Port Melville’s operations and facilities into the Tiwi Hydrogen Project;
- GEV to commence planning for a full feasibility, including further information on the project development schedule, technical partners, project scale, solar monitoring activities and appointment of consultants. The project schedule will run in parallel with GEV's ABS full class approval program for the 430-tonne pilot-scale ship; and
- Financial close for the initial phase of the Tiwi Hydrogen Project is targeted for 2023, with first hydrogen export to commence in 2026, subject to all commercial and regulatory approvals and customer offtake.
The Tiwi Islands
Apart from being strategically located in the Timor Sea, the Tiwi Islands are significant for their unbroken lineage of indigenous ownership. Though attempts were made historically by Europeans to colonise the island, the Tiwi people have proved that outsiders wishing to operate on the Tiwi Islands must do so on the Tiwi people’s terms.
Land plays an important role in kinship and relationship networks, with each person belonging to a landowning group and having particular connections to spatially defined areas. Similarly, there are aspects of managing and allocating land and natural resources that are inseparable from kinship and relationship ties.
While landowning rights are inherited from the father, the responsibility for the care of important sites comes through the mother’s line. There are eight Landowning Clans on the Tiwi Islands, with GEV’s project entirely within the Munupi Landowning Clan.
The Tiwi Aboriginal Land Trust was established under the Aboriginal Land Rights Act 1976 (ALRA), with the Tiwi Land Council being the only body with the authority and capacity to direct and administer the trust.
Some 20 years ago, the Tiwi leaders decided that they would use up to 10% of their land to create an economy, with real jobs for their children and grandchildren, and to remove Tiwi people from reliance on welfare and its associated poverty.
As a result, the Tiwi leaders established a number of commercial businesses and enterprises in order to create jobs and income for their people, including the independent business enterprise for the existing plantation industry being Tiwi Plantations Corporation.