THE EMERGENCE OF RENEWABLE ENERGY IN COASTAL CENTRAL QUEENSLAND
Rachael Wright-Coxon and Rick Palmer
Over the last 60 years Central Queensland has emerged as one of the great suppliers of global energy .
Initially this came in the form of thermal coal which was supplied from the Bowen Basin mines , particularly to North Asia and Europe . Since 2005 the provision of power has broadened to include LNG , which has been exported through Gladstone Port from sources in the Surat Basin .
The recent emergence of “ green hydrogen ” as another possible energy source has provided coastal Central Queensland with the opportunity of developing a third strand to its global energy contribution and to strengthen regional resilience .
The key to green hydrogen is that the electrolysis plants , which are used to separate hydrogen from oxygen , need to be powered by renewable rather than fossil fuel energy .
GLADSTONE AS A “ GREEN HYDROGEN ” HUB Gladstone Port has been the principal terminal through which Central
Queensland ’ s energy has been supplied to the world . In 2018-19 it handled 124.02 million tonnes of exports in 1900 vessels , 70.2 per cent of which was coal and 20.9 per cent of which was LNG .
In the last three years , as worldwide interest in green energy has grown exponentially to decarbonise electricity systems , Gladstone attracted significant attention , in particular from Japan and to a lesser extent , Korea ; two of the Port City ’ s long-term energy customers .
An appropriate existing workplace skills base , industrial port infrastructure , suitable industrial land and strategic location in regard to the Powerlink distribution grid are four of Gladstone ’ s special strengths .
Among the green power projects proposed for Gladstone are :
• An export facility involving Stanwell Corporation , the operator of the Stanwell Power Station , and Iwatani Corporation , a gas and energy development and supply company from Japan ;
• Australia Gas Infrastructure Group ’ s Hydrogen Park Gladstone , which is designed to blend renewable energy into Gladstone City ’ s gas network for the benefit of residential , commercial and industrial customers ;
• Sumitomo Australia ’ s export hydrogen plant ;
• Hydrogen Utilities ( H2U ) $ 1.61 billion industrial complex for large scale production of green hydrogen and ammonia ;
• Pure Hydrogen ’ s Project Jupiter which could potentially produce up to 400 tonnes of hydrogen daily ; and
• British-based Eco Energy World , which hopes to build a 300 MW solar plant at Raglan , has announced plans for 200 MW hydrogen plant and associated 100 MW of energy storage in Gladstone .
While not all projects will prove to be viable , it ’ s eminently foreseeable the Port City could end up hosting multiple hydrogen plants , possibly using selected common infrastructure . Such an arrangement may well have improved the economics of the city ’ s three LNG processing plants .
VOL 14 NO 2 2021 18 www . edaustralia . com . au