ENGIE to go ahead with Australian renewable hydrogen project

ENGIE has announced that it has taken the Final Investment Decision (FDI) in the development of one of the world’s first industrial-scale renewable hydrogen projects, to be located in the Pilbara region of Western Australia.

Scheduled for completion in 2024, the first phase of the Yuri project will produce up to 640 tonnes of renewable hydrogen per year as a zero carbon feedstock for Yara Australia’s ammonia production facility in Karratha.

As announced in 2021, the Yuri project is being developed with the support of a $47.5 million grant from the Australian Government’s ARENA Renewable Hydrogen Deployment Fund and a $2 million grant by the Western Australian Government’s Renewable Hydrogen Fund. ENGIE has executed an agreement with Mitsui, pursuant to which Mitsui has agreed to acquire a 28 percent stake in the joint venture company for the Yuri project, subject to the satisfaction of certain conditions under the agreement. ENGIE and Mitsui intend to operate the Yuri project through this joint venture company.

The project will include a 10 MW electrolyser powered by 18 MW of solar PV and supported by an 8 MW battery energy storage system, generating renewable hydrogen for use in Yara Australia’s ammonia facility at Karratha. Permitting is completed, a 100 percent offtake contract is in place with Yara and construction is set to commence by November 2022, thanks to a consortium made of Technip Energies and Monford Group, selected as EPCC contractor for the project.

“I am delighted to see the Yuri project moving forward very concretely as it fully illustrates one of the pillars of ENGIE’s hydrogen roadmap: industrial decarbonisation. Thanks to Australian authorities, we pave the way for hydrogen market development worldwide,” said ENGIE Executive Vice President in charge of Thermal Generation, Hydrogen and Energy Supply Activities, Sébastien Arbola.

“We have a strong pipeline of renewables, storage and hydrogen projects in Australia; as each one of these projects reaches financial close, construction and commissioning, we get closer to decarbonising our economy and realising our ambitious net zero targets,” added ENGIE Australia & New Zealand Chief Executive Officer Andrew Hyland.