Canada’s Amp Energy, which aims to build a hydrogen hub on the Eyre Peninsula, strikes land deal

A Canadian company which hopes to build an enormous hydrogen project on the Eyre Peninsula has struck a deal for land at Cape Hardy.

Cape Hardy on the Eyre Peninsula could be developed as a major industrial precinct.

Iron Road has struck a deal with Canada-based Amp Energy for an option over a large parcel of land at its Cape Hardy port precinct on the Eyre Peninsula, where Amp hopes to build a major hydrogen project.

Amp Energy is proposing an initial one gigawatt hydrogen electrolyser project, with that potentially increasing to 10GW.

For context a 1GW project would be five times as large as the State Government’s proposed hydrogen hub at Whyalla.

The Amp project is in its early stages, with the company aiming to finalise the pre-front end engineering and design study over the next nine months.

The project would take desalinated water from the Northern Water project, which itself won’t be subject to a final investment decision until 2026.

“We are seeing growing demand for advanced fuels both in Australia and abroad,’’ Amp co-founder Paul Ezekiel said in a statement.

“This includes green ammonia, liquid hydrogen, methanol, and sustainable aviation fuel.

“The Cape Hardy Advanced Fuels Precinct will allow for large-scale production of these fuels that will be critical to the energy transition and achieving net zero targets.’’

Under the deal announced with Iron Road on Tuesday, Amp will be granted an option to buy 630ha of land within the Cape Hardy precinct, either in one or three stages, for a total of $15.5m.

Iron Road will be paid an upfront deposit of $2.5m once certain conditions, including Foreign Investment Review Board approval, are met.

The company would also be in line for a series of milestone payments should the project progress.

Amp in 2021 acquired a portfolio of three approved, large, solar projects in South Australia, which it named the Renewable Energy Hub of Australia. None of these projects appear to have progressed as yet.

Iron Road shares were almost 13 per cent higher at noon at 8.7c.