An off-grid hydrogen project in Central Australia is building momentum, with the Northern Territory Government announcing it has gained Major Project Status.
The Desert Bloom Hydrogen project is a staged commercial-scale green hydrogen operation. It has the potential to grow to a $15 billion project, and deliver around 410,000 tonnes per annum of hydrogen for domestic and international export markets.
Water is a precious resource and a sustainable water source is critical to development of renewable hydrogen projects in the Territory. This technology provides an innovative solution for securing a sustainable water source for the production of renewable hydrogen in Central Australia. The technology works by capturing water from the atmosphere in arid environments.
The project is backed by Sanguine Impact Investment, which has committed $1 billion required for the project’s initial stages, and to provide the capital to roll out the full project.
Depending on how the project rollout is sequenced, it is expected that at its peak, more than 1,000 full-time jobs will be required for construction, both in Darwin and on-site in multiple locations, and more than 120 full-time jobs will be created to operate and maintain the project.
Construction for the first stage of the project will require approximately 100 full-time construction jobs, and 6 full-time jobs for ongoing operations.
The next steps of this project include the Territory Government working with Desert Bloom Hydrogen to develop the staged project to its potential export scale, including identifying suitable land in Central Australia to harness solar energy and ensuring adherence to standard best practice regulatory processes and approvals.
Awarding of Major Project Status follows the company’s 12 week trial in the Barkly earlier this year.