Future Townsville: Hydrogen Hub firming as NQ’s energy cornerstone

Sun Metals and Ark Energy’s innovative Hydrogen Hub is paving the way for a future in which heavy haulage is done with far fewer emissions, and trucks run on clean, renewable power. See how in the latest feature of our Future Townsville series.

Aerial Photography of the SunHQ Hub in January of 2025. Photos: SunHQ.

Future Townsville is a series launched by The Townsville Bulletin which will explore the sector’s outlook in Queensland showcase the economic, employment and innovation it brings to the state. The series, which finishes on Wednesday, has been supported by Hancock Agriculture and S. Kidman & Co., Bravus Mining and Resources, Port of Townsville, Aurizon, Bank of Queensland, Queensland Resources Council, Sun Metals, Ark Energy and Urbis.

The rugged and tropical terrain of North Queensland has long been built atop the backs of diesel powered engines; a world where the price of diesel and AdBlue is watched as closely as the footy scores.

But it’s also the hotbed of a transformative, new form of energy - hydrogen.

Proponents believe it will be the fuel of the future, a clean, renewable source of energy that only produces water as a by-product, but the technology and production of it is still in its infancy and in need of proofing before it can be built at scale.

In the north, Sun Metals and its sister company Ark Energy are at the forefront of development, with Ark Energy CEO Michael Choi confident that his company’s output is key to a carbon-free future.

To that end, they’ve spent around $15 million in the Townsville region, setting up construction and commissioning their crown jewel, the SunHQ H2 Hub.

Aerial Photography of the SunHQ Hub in January of 2025. Photos: SunHQ.

“The SunHQ H2 Hub helps to establish Townsville as a leader in zero emissions heavy haulage, technical innovation, and research and development in decarbonisation of industry,” Mr Choi said.

The hub has come a long way since shovels were first slammed home into the turf at the Sun Metals Green Industrial Precinct just outside of Townsville in 2023, nestled between Townsville’s City and the Billabong Sanctuary.

At that point, the company’s plans to produce clean hydrogen, refit its haulage trucks to be powered by it and set up recharging stations were still in the realm of theory and computer-generate renders.

Now, they’re closer than ever before to reality.

“We’ve recently completed some functional testing and achieved key safety related approvals, and now preparing for first hydrogen production from the electrolyser, which is a significant milestone,” Mr Choi said.

Ark Energy’s SunHQ H2 Hub project team at the refuelling station. Photo: Through The Looking Glass Studios.

“The SunHQ H2 Hub is about to commence ‘hot commissioning’ which involves systematically testing and energising equipment under real operating conditions.

“Once that is completed the facility will move into ‘start-up’ and begin hydrogen production.

We are working towards completing the commissioning process, up to the first vehicle refuel, over the next few months.”

When fully complete and operational, the SunHQ H2 Hub will stand as one of the largest facilities of it’s kind in Australia, something that Mr Choi believes is appropriate, given the range of benefits North Queensland offers to the industry, and vice versa.

“Renewable hydrogen is a versatile fuel with applications in harder-to-abate industry sectors including heavy transport, chemicals, manufacturing and minerals processing. As a key region for various resources sectors including agriculture and mining, North Queensland is well placed to also be a leader in decarbonisation of harder-to-abate industry sectors that require more complex solutions like renewable hydrogen.”

This article is part of Future Townsville, which was supported by Hancock Agriculture and S. Kidman & Co., Bravus Mining and Resources, Port of Townsville, Aurizon, Bank of Queensland, Queensland Resources Council, Sun Metals, Ark Energy and Urbis.

Originally published as Future Townsville: Hydrogen Hub firming as NQ’s energy cornerstone