How a green energy CEO plans to boost a hydrogen market for North Queensland
A Townsville-born CEO of a green energy company explains why his hometown is the perfect location to develop an international market.
News
Don't miss out on the headlines from News. Followed categories will be added to My News.
A $137m Townsville hydrogen project that would supply carbon-neutral power is only the first of five stages that is being considered by owning company Edify.
Edify’s Green Hydrogen Lansdown project will have the capacity to grow by 20 times that of the initial project which is partly funded by the German Government.
But at this stage it would mean up to 500 jobs between the project’s construction and ongoing operations.
Townsville raised chief executive John Cole said his hometown was the perfect place to develop a booming international hydrogen market, which could eventually be piped to the Port of Townsville, and then possibly fuel the ships that ship the product across the world.
This was because of geographic advantages and proximity to Asia, a combination of natural resources, the CopperString project, and the development of the Lansdown Eco-Industrial Precinct 46km south of Townsville.
Construction of the first stage will begin next year, and it will have the capacity to generate 17.6MW once commercial operations start in 2027.
Mr Cole said this stage of the project, which is enough to fuel 40 heavy vehicles each year, would be enough to cater to a local domestic market and would be transported by trucks to buyers.
He said it would be as safe to transport on Townsville roads as much as other flammable gases such as petrol.
He foresaw heavy vehicles running on clean energy that would be travelling to Mount Isa and in both directions of the Bruce Highway.
But the land the facility is on has huge capacity of expansion and could move beyond 1000MW.
“We’ll see more of it used domestically as well,” Mr Cole said.
“But ultimately the plan is to take Queensland’s sunshine and wind, water, and export it from the Port of Townsville.”
Mr Cole said the company had numerous renewable projects across the country, but that this would be its first hydrogen investment.
“We’re exclusively in Townsville because North Australia just has a geographical advantage over South Australia when it comes to exporting to your product,” he said.
“The land, the wind and solar and water, there’s very few places where they all come together, and Townsville’s the best.
“The CopperString network … you bring in critical minerals, and electricity and all that infrastructure together and Lansdown is going to be the place where it all happens.
“These things, you need a domino to fall and I think after today we will be the first people out there, it will be breaking ground.”
The project has also attracted investment from Germany, which Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Energy Minister Chris Bowen said was a reflection of the project’s viability when they announced the Federal Government would fund $70m of the first stage.
Climate Change Minister Chris Bowen said the German government had funded $27m towards the project, which he said was “pretty unusual” but also a “vote of confidence”.
“Germany, one of the great industrial powerhouses of the world knows they can’t make their own green hydrogen, not enough of it,” he said.
“They need our help, it will mean Townsville jobs powering Australia, powering Germany, and powering the world.”
Mr Albanese said the project had potential to offer $50b in benefits to the national economy as one of six regional hubs.
“Queensland as the most regional of states has the most to gain by the transition,” Mr Albanese said.
“It will be an economic powerhouse in the future, even more so than it has been up to this point.”
Townsville Mayor Jenny Hill said that the project had taken decades to get to this point, and that it was part of her efforts to create job opportunities.
“In 2016 when we lost QNI we saw the impact on this community.
“Today we’ve got more jobs than we have unemployed and I want to see Townsville stay in that position.
“I want to tell the rest of Australia, you don’t have to live in Sydney to have a good paying job.”
More Coverage
Originally published as How a green energy CEO plans to boost a hydrogen market for North Queensland
Parolee dad’s bone-breaking assault on six-week-old baby
A mining town father was already on parole for choking and other chillingly violent acts when he seriously hurt his newborn son.
Garden of Eating: A foodie’s secret gem
A restaurant tucked away in South Townsville has launched a fresh menu and celebrated its 31 years in the business as being one of the town’s best kept secrets.
Fears we could ‘lose’ Fire without $360m arena build
With another grand final locked in for the Townsville Fire fears are building that if the proposed $360m entertainment arena is not approved, the city risks losing one its premier sporting teams to a region with better facilities. VOTE IN OUR POLL.
‘Severe’ TC Alfred intensifies to category four for second time
Tropical Cyclone Alfred has once again intensified to a category four system, as it continues to creep slowly parallel to the Queensland coast. Here’s the threat experts warn we can expect in the coming days.
Why Minister won’t stop Qld police whistleblower ‘witch hunt’
The Premier and his Minister have faced questions about why the Qld Police is on a Fitzgerald-like ‘witch hunt’ to silence whistleblowers in the ranks.
Mining town rocked by man’s ‘sudden death’
The sudden death of a man in his 30s has sent a mine village in Queensland into shock.