The Australian Renewable Energy Agency (Arena) has announced a shortlist of projects for the second round of its Hydrogen Headstart subsidy scheme, with methanol facilities making up four of the seven.
The shortlisted projects must submit full applications by early September, Arena said on 13 May, to win part of the A$1bn ($723.7mn) in funding available, which was reduced by A$1bn in last night's federal budget.
Arena's selections represent 2,180MW of capacity, compared with the 3,394MW in the first round's shortlist.
Four of the projects plan to manufacture methanol, the largest being the Bell Bay Powerfuels project in Tasmania state, which is aiming for first output in 2029.
Perdaman's 750MW Project Helios will connect to the company's 2.3mn t/yr Project Ceres urea plant in the Pilbara region of Western Australia. The firm started constructing its 30MW solar farm in March. Helios is expected to reduce Perdaman's carbon emissions by 43,800t of CO2 equivalent (tCO2e)/yr.
Australian low-carbon fuels firm HAMR Energy's Portland Renewable Fuels Project was also on the list. The developer of the 220MW project received South Australia state government backing for a 140mn litres/yr sustainable aviation fuels (SAF) plant in March.
Applications for the shortlist opened in October last year and follows consultations last year, after the first round of the scheme failed to award the full A$2bn initially offered, instead awarding the 900,000 t/yr Murchison Green Hydrogen project and the 4,700 t/yr Hunter Valley Hydrogen Hub with A$814mn and A$432mn, respectively, in 2025.
Murchison has been shortlisted for its stage 1B, add a further 500MW of subsidised output to the initial stage meaning a total of 1.5GW capacity, while 3GW of electrolysis is ultimately planned for the project.
The Headstart production credit pays the manufacturer per unit of production over a 10-year period of operations, to help bridge the gap between cost of making renewable hydrogen and market prices.
| Hydrogen Headstart round 2 projects | ||||
| Applicant | Project Title | Electrolyser capacity (MW) | State | Hydrogen End Use |
| Bell Bay Powerfuels | Bell Bay Powerfuels | 300 | Tasmania | Methanol |
| European Energy Australia | South East Queensland Power-to-X Project | 150 | Queensland | Methanol |
| HAMR Energy | Portland Renewable Fuels Project | 220 | Victoria | Methanol and SAF |
| HIF Asia Pacific | HIF Tasmania e-Fuel Facility | 140 | Tasmania | Methanol |
| Murchison Hydrogen Renewables | Murchison Green Hydrogen Project Stage 1B | 500 | Western Australia | Ammonia |
| Perdaman Commercial Developments | Perdaman Helios (Karratha): Decarbonising Fertilisers | 750 | Western Australia | Urea |
| Summit Hydro | Gladstone Green Hydrogen Project | 120 | Queensland | Alumina |
| Source: Arena | ||||
