Construction starts on Australia’s first renewable hydrogen energy plant in a remote microgrid

• 3 years ago (2021-05-10)
• David Flin

Australasia 57 microgrid 5 Solar 277

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Horizon Power has begun construction on a hydrogen project in Denham, Western Australia. This will be Australia’s first renewable hydrogen energy plant within a remote microgrid.

Construction of a 704 kW solar farm is underway to power a hydrogen plant, which will include a 348 kW electrolyser, hydrogen compression and storage, and a 100 kW fuel cell allowing the production and storage of hydrogen. Construction on the hydrogen power plant is scheduled to begin in August 2021.

The project will generate around 526 MWh of renewable electricity per year, which will be delivered into the Denham microgrid.

Stephanie Unwin, CEO of Horizon Power, said that the business has made the strategic decision to upgrade its existing power station in Denham rather than build a new power station. She said: “Upgrades will be made to the existing station to support the integration of the renewable hydrogen demonstration plant which will test the technical capability of hydrogen as a dispatchable power source in remote microgrids across regional Western Australia.”

The project has received A$2.6 million in funding from the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) as part of ARENA’s Advancing Renewables Programme. A further A$5.7 million has also been provided by the Western Australian Government as part of its WA Recovery Plan. This includes A$1 million from the WA Renewable Hydrogen Fund.