Woodside Petroleum [WPL:AU], Australia’s major petroleum exploration and production company, plans to build a new hydrogen and ammonia-producing plant near Perth with a production capacity of up to 1,500 tons a day, as reported by Nikkei Asia on December 11. Citing Woodside CEO Meg O’Neill, the firm would make the final investment decision in 2024 and start operating the project in 2027. Woodside declared that the hydrogen and ammonia scheme, named H2Perth, would be the largest facility of its kind in the world. The H2Perth project could produce both green hydrogen generated from water electrolysis powered by renewable energy and blue hydrogen extracted from natural gas. According to Woodside, the carbon dioxide emitted in blue hydrogen production will be captured and stored underground or offset.

The H2Perth plan came a few days after Woodside announced a USD5bn investment in its clean energy and carbon capture departments by 2030. However, the company still sees fossil fuels as a crucial part of its portfolio, which contributed over 90% of Woodside’s revenue in 2020. The enterprise would be conservative in investing in new energy before it sees demand growth. Woodside CEO O’Neill commented that it might be too early to determine the share of hydrogen, ammonia, and other new energies in the future energy mix. In August, Woodside agreed to purchase the petroleum business of BHP Group [BHP:US], making it one of the ten largest independent oil and gas producers worldwide.

Sources:

https://asia.nikkei.com/Editor-s-Picks/Interview/Australia-s-Woodside-aims-to-start-up-massive-hydrogen-plant-in-2027-CEO

https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/woodside-investors-jittery-petroleum-merger-bhp-falls-listing-change-2021-08-18/