Leading Australian energy producer Woodside, with the support of the State Government of Western Australia, has unveiled plans to establish a world-scale hydrogen and ammonia production facility at a site in southern metropolitan Perth.

The proposed project, named H2Perth, would be built on approximately 130 hectares of vacant industrial land to be leased from the State in the Kwinana Strategic Industrial Area and Rockingham Industry Zone.

The H2Perth project aims to:

• produce low cost, low carbon hydrogen-based energy for customers
• stimulate and enable increased renewable power generation in Western Australia
• and support State Government priorities for strategic industry creation and local manufacturing

 H2Perth is a phased development that, at full potential, would be one of the largest facilities of its kind in the world. It would produce up to 1500 tpd of hydrogen for export in the form of ammonia and liquid hydrogen.

 As well as meeting a shared goal of hydrogen export from Western Australia in the second half of the decade, Woodside aims to support State initiatives to stimulate local hydrogen demand, particularly in the transport sector and among local heavy industry. Local refuelling stations can be built independently of the export project timelines and could operate as early as 2023, subject to approvals and customer demand.

"The land being leased from the State Government in the Kwinana and Rockingham areas is ideally located close to existing gas, power, water and port infrastructure, as well as a skilled local residential workforce. These advantages will make a huge difference to cost of supply and schedule and help H2Perth deliver competitively priced hydrogen to customers," said Woodside CEO Meg O’Neill. "Building in this location is not just about hydrogen. H2Perth will also facilitate substantial growth of renewables in Western Australia by providing to the grid a flexible and stabilizing load that benefits uptake of intermittent renewable electricity by households and local industry. We will also be supporting local manufacturing jobs and opportunities."

"H2Perth is designed to be net-zero emissions for both Woodside and its customers, supporting Woodside’s corporate emissions reduction targets and the Paris Agreement goals of customers in the region," O'Neill said.

"We look forward to H2Perth establishing Western Australia as a global hydrogen leader, building on our state’s existing resources and capabilities and helping lead us to into a lower-carbon future – something
everyone can be proud of."

Woodside will now begin community engagement on the H2Perth project along with detailed progress with customers. Subject to necessary commercial and regulatory approvals, and a final investment decision,
construction is estimated to start in 2024.