RWE makes deal to bring green hydrogen to Europe from Australia

London (Quantum Commodity Intelligence) - German energy giant RWE and Australian hydrogen developer The Hydrogen Utility (H2U) announced Thursday a deal aiming to deliver green hydrogen into Europe, with H2U planning to grow its output from an initial 40,000 mt of ammonia per year to up to 800,000 mt.

Hydrogen is viewed as a key element of decarbonisation strategies by many energy companies and policymakers, with its potential to lower carbon emissions across many applications, including multiple transport modes and industrial processes.

"H2 is the perfect long-term solution to decarbonise industry, aviation and the transport of heavy goods. Australia is one of the countries that has excellent conditions to produce green hydrogen – low cost of production and a stable framework," said Javier Moret, Global Head of LNG at RWE Supply & Trading.

All hydrogen is chemically the same, but depending on the process used to create it, it is allocated one of several different colourful monikers - 'green' hydrogen is produced via electrolysis from renewable electricity and is considered to deliver close to zero emissions across its life cycle.

H2U plans to build a 75-megawatt electrolysis plant in South Australia, which could supply green hydrogen for about 40,000 tonnes of ammonia annually.

In a second phase of expansion throughout the 2020s H2U wants to extend the capacity to 1.5 gigawatts of electrolysis.

RWE is also constructing renewable energy plants in Australia, including one of the largest solar farms in the country in Limondale.

RWE is also working on 30 hydrogen projects, mostly located in the Netherlands, Germany and the UK.