Green hydrogen interest started as soon as talk of smelter closure
Friday, 23 July 2021
An energy boss is confident plenty of keen parties will officially surface wanting to set up the world’s largest green hydrogen plant in Southland.
Meridian and Contact Energy announced on Thursday that they were calling for interested parties to partner with following a feasibility study into a large-scale green hydrogen plant in the lower South Island.
Southland has been identified as a prime location with the large supply of renewable energy produced at the Manapouri power station the key factor.
The next step will be to identify the preferred partners to set up the plant in Southland.
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Meridian Energy's development manager Guy Waipara told Stuff on Friday it had already fielded interest before Thursday’s announcement.
He said as soon Rio Tinto announced in July 2021 it planned to close the smelter the approaches started.
“This has happened because we’ve had a handful of really big companies, that make Meridian look quite small, approach us about the whole idea.”
It would now filter through who was really interested and identifying who they should partner with, he said.
“These next two months is the real acid test for it. We are pretty positive we will have some options to work through.”
There were two different ways they could go, Waipara said.
If it became obvious that there was a consortium that “looked really solid and robust”, it had the ability to choose a partner and get straight into the detail.
However, if it still remained unclear what the best option was Waipara said they could run a “harder tender”.
“It’s so big you have got to satisfy yourself that you have made the best long-term call.”
A potential partner could be sorted by the end of the year but if it ended up having to run another stage to the process it could be more like early 2022, Waipara said.
Waipara confirmed the green hydrogen plant was being viewed as a replacement customer to replace the smelter at Tiwai Point.
He also confirmed the Manapouri power station would not provide enough energy to power both industries.
Waipara said Rio Tinto has indicated it would be closing in 2024 and that was what it was working towards.
“This is why we are timing [the green hydrogen plant] as close to January 2025 as possible.”
Green hydrogen is regarded as an energy source that can decarbonise sectors such as heavy transportation and industrial processes that currently rely on fossil fuels.
It is produced by using renewable electricity to split water into hydrogen and oxygen.
More than NZ$200 billion has already been committed by governments and the private sector around the world to support the development of hydrogen economies. The feasibility study estimates global demand could increase more than sevenfold to 553 million tonnes by 2050.