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Franck Woitiez

“Electrolyser” Hydrogen Superhub at Crystal Brook

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A $25m ‘Hydrogen Superhub’ will be built by French renewable giant Neoen in Crystal Brook, South Australia. The state government has committed $25m in grants and loans to Neoen to finalise plans and commence construction on the superhub. It still requires development approvals but looks like the project will go ahead. This would be the largest hydrogen plant in the world. 

Hydrogen Superhub at Crystal Brook

Hydrogen Superhub at Crystal Brook
Hydrogen Superhub –
a hydrogen atom with size of central proton shown (source: wikipedia.org)

The 50MW electrolyser facility on wind and solar farm at Crystal Brook would produce up to 400MW of solar and wind power each day, which would then be used to power the hydrogen electrolyser which would create up to 20,000kg of hydrogen daily, according to the ABC.

Tom Koutsantonis, the South Australian Energy Minister discussed SA’s plans with regards to hydrogen production and potential export:

“Our Hydrogen Roadmap has laid the groundwork for South Australia to become a world leader in the emerging hydrogen production industry, and to benefit from the economic opportunities likely to flow from it,” he said.

“More renewable energy means cheaper power, and I’m pleased the State Government can partner with Neoen to once again develop a world-leading renewable energy and storage project following the construction of the Tesla battery at Jamestown.”

MD of Neoen’s operations in Australia, Franck Woitiez, discussed the possibility of exporting the hydrogen intrastate and even into different countries:

“It has the potential to reach beyond our electricity grids, and supply South Australia’s locally produced clean energy to other states and to our nearby trading partners,” he said.

The Flinders News report that the Hydrogen Superhub will create 260 construction jobs, 40 ongoing positions and at least $600 million in Neoen investments. They also note that the Renewable Technology Fund have given grants to three other hydrogen projects:

 

 

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Neoen’s Coleambally solar farm construction

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French renewable energy and battery storage developer Neoen has reached a financial close on its 150MW AC Coleambally solar farm in NSW. Construction has already started and, according to the official website, it’ll consist of approximately 560,000 solar panels on 550 hectares of land 5km north east of Coleambally, which is about 65km  from Griffith.

The Coleambally solar farm

Coleambally solar farm
Neoen’s Coleambally solar farm (source: coleamballysolarfarm.com.au)

“We started developing this idea a year ago. We found the land, we signed a PPA (power purchase agreement), and organised the grid connection (and) now we have reached financing and it will be in production before the end of the year. That is less than two years from idea to production.” 

Neoen’s Australian Operations CEO Franck Woitiez told RenewEconomy.

According to their discussion, Woitiez questioned the viability of pumped hydro, referring to the $2 billion turned $4.5 billion turned $8 billion “Snowy 2.0” scheme which has been laid out by Malcolm Turnbull’s federal government and is now being discussed, with an investment decision to be made later this year. After a $29m feasibility study showed it is unlikely the project could operate in the “merchant market” given its size and scope, it’ll be interesting to see what happens.

Woitiez rubbished and said solar and storage would be a far cheaper and faster option:

“You could build 2,000MW (the amount of power Snowy 2.0 will generate) of solar, add storage, and provide reliable and dispatchable and cheap electricity in half the time of hydro, and at a lower cost.”

Would be be better to let the market dictate terms here rather than handing over an exorbitant amount of taxpayer money for sub standard technology (or, if you believe the government, a ‘nation-building project’), poorly run by public servants? Well, how did the NBN turn out? Obviously sensible policy structure need apply – you can’t trust the private sector to regulate themselves – but the last year or so of solar farms in Australia has proven that large scale renewable investment can be a viable, mutually beneficial option. 

You can follow Franck Woitiez on Twitter via his handle @fwoit or clicking here. 

Neoen, founded in 2008 and currently with 1,125MW of renewable energy ‘in operation or  under operation’ as of April last year. No word on how much they have now as there’s been a lot of movement by them recently, especially in Australia – Neoen are also responsible for the Bulgana Green Power Hub, the Tesla Battery in South Australia (known officially by the grid as the Hornsdale Power Reserve), and Melbourne’s solar powered trams. They also built the 300MW Cestas Solar Park in France in 2015, which was the biggest solar farm in Europe at the time.

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Bulgana Green Power Hub to add 20MW Tesla Battery

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French renewable energy company Neoen has purchased the Bulgana Green Power Hub, a huge wind+battery storage facility in western Victoria. It will be receiving a Tesla battery similar to the one in South Australia, but just on a smaller scale (20MW vs 100MW). 

Bulgana Green Power Hub

According to the AFR, the 204MW wind farm and 20MW accompanying Tesla battery will entirely power the Nectar Farms crop at Stawell, in Western Victoria. The majority of energy it generates will be fed into the local grid. The Nectar Farms crop is a new 30HA high tech glasshouse facility which will supply tomatoes and other produce for import and export, contributing more than 600 jobs to the Stawell region. 

The Bulgana Green Power Hub will be Neoen’s largest Australian-based project and will create 1300 jobs during construction and 270 ongoing jobs. Neoen are joint owners of the existing 100MW Tesla South Australia solar battery. They are also the developer of the Hornsdale Wind Farm in South Australia (where the battery is located)

“The performance of the South Australian battery is outstanding,” according to Franck Woitiez, Neoen’s managing director. “The Bulgana battery is primarily going to provide energy to Nectar Farms and may support the grid in the future.”

The South Australian battery was tested late last month and performed admirably, delivering 100MW of power to the grid in 140 milliseconds as the Loy Yang Power station tripped and went offline. 

Lily D’Ambrosio, Victoria’s energy minister, called the agreement “a major step forward for communities, businesses and the renewable energy industry”.

“This project will reduce greenhouse gas emissions while helping meet Victoria’s renewable energy generation targets,” Ms D’Ambrosio said, according to the Sydney Morning Herald.

The Bulgana Tesla solar battery is not expected to come online until mid-2019 but we expect to see similar agreements put in place over the coming year. Read more about the Bulgana project by clicking here to visit their website. 

Bulgana Green Power Hub Location
Bulgana Green Power Hub Location (source: bulganawindfarm.com.au)

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