Acciona Energia’s 600-MW Queensland solar project to power proposed hydrogen complex

Spain’s Acciona Energia (BME:ANE) has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to supply power from its 600-MW Aldoga solar project in Queensland to a proposed 3-GW green hydrogen plant in the northeastern Australian state.

The MoU is with Stanwell Corp Ltd, a Queensland government-owned corporation, which is leading the consortium currently conducting a feasibility study of the Central Queensland Hydrogen Project (CQ-H2). The deal was announced by the parties on Thursday.

The CQ-H2 consortium also includes Australian energy infrastructure company APA Group (ASX:APA) and Japanese companies Iwatani Corp (TYO:8088), Kawasaki Heavy Industries (TYO:7012), Kansai Electric Power Co (TYO:9503) and Marubeni Corp (TYO:8002). The team plans to produce green hydrogen at Aldoga, close to Gladstone, for export to Japan and use by Gladstone industries.

Via a direct connection, the Aldoga solar farm will power stage one of the proposed hydrogen electrolysis complex. “Though a great milestone, our proposed facility will require substantially higher quantities of renewable energy to support the development of stage two,” noted Stanwell’s chief executive Michael O’Rourke.

The Aldoga solar farm is expected to start construction in September 2023 and come onstream in December 2025. The CQ-H2 project targets daily hydrogen production of about 100 tonnes by 2026 and scaling up to 900 tonnes by 2031.

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