There are a few big players getting back in to hydrogen in the US, I read somewhere recently but didn't save the details. My guess is buy when it's out of favour.
At this US Government Website there is a number of papers, roadmaps etc for th implementation of Hydrogen based energy strategies.
paywallThe BP Kwinana hydrogen plan goes on the back burner.
BP puts Kwinana new energy plant on ice
BP has gone back to the drawing board on a $1 billion-plus new energy hub in Kwinana, with more than 200 contractors expected to lose their jobs.thewest.com.au
Thanks @sptrawlerBP's $1B Kwinana hydrogen and clean fuel projects on ice
The two projects will be "recycled" amid BP's concerns about costs and government policy.www.boilingcold.com.au
UK oil and gas producer BP has put on ice plans for two clean fuel projects worth about $1 billion at its disused oil refinery in Kwinana, south of Perth.
BP informed its employees in meetings on Thursday, followed by telling contractors on Friday, according to people involved who were not authorised to speak to the media. Some BP staff will be made redundant.
BP was considering building a biofuel plant, Kwinana Renewable Fuels (KRF), to make sustainable fuel from biomass and a green hydrogen plant dubbed H2Kwinana.
Some workers were told the projects were to be "recycled", which likely means BP will return to the early stages of its project assessment process to fundamentally review what, if anything, it wants to do at Kwinana.
Factors influencing BP’s decision included rising costs to build the plants, and the lack of a mandate in Australia to use the fuels, leaving BP uncertain if the products would have a ready local market, according to the sources.
The cost of the KRF had been reported to be $580 million while a public conceptual study estimated the first stage of H2Kwinana to cost $399 million.
A BP spokesman said it had made significant progress in developing the renewable fuels and hydrogen projects at Kwinana over the past three years.
"While bioenergy remains a core part of BP’s strategy, BP has decided to rephase the Kwinana Renewable Fuels project," he said.
"This involves adjusting the pace of delivery with a focus on improving capital efficiency and better alignment with government policies."
The KRF was to be the first of five BP plants worldwide to turn biomass, including used cooking oil, into 10,000 barrels a day of sustainable aviation fuel and renewable diesel.
Work was underway refurbishing tanks at Kwinana and an $80-million-plus hydrogen production unit had been ordered from French firm Technip.
BP's decision on renewable fuel is not a surprise after Boiling Cold revealed two weeks ago that engineering and design contractors had been stood down.
Yes the reality that renewables isn't actually free electricity, is now starting to become obvious when the numbers are crunched and as you say the Government is going to have to fund most of these projects, because the private sector aren't interested in running at a loss.
Hydrogen plant in doubt as SA premier refuses to commit to $600m project linked to Whyalla steelworks
The site of the SA government's proposed hydrogen plant at Whyalla. (ABC News: Brant Cumming)
In short:The SA government has stopped short of guaranteeing the future of its $600 million hydrogen proposal outside Whyalla. The hydrogen power plant and storage facility were first announced as an election commitment in 2021.
What's next?The government indicated the hydrogen proposal depended on developments at the Whyalla steelworks, but expressed concerns that the site's owner GFG Alliance "doesn't have the capital" to invest in the necessary upgrades.
Doubt has been cast over the future of a pledge to build a $600 million hydrogen power plant near Whyalla, with the South Australian premier refusing to guarantee the project will go ahead.
Peter Malinauskas said the money could be spent elsewhere in Whyalla, if the owner of the city's steelworks did not invest in upgrading the trouble-plagued site.
Mr Malinauskas told state parliament on Wednesday that the government is owed a "substantial sum of funds" by Whyalla steelworks owner, GFG Alliance.
"Principally through being in arrears through royalty payments, that number is in the order of tens of millions of dollars," he said.
Treasurer Stephen Mullighan said GFG had been in arrears on royalty payments for the past six months.
Mr Malinauskas said he was open to revealing the full amount owed to the public "if it is appropriate".
He said GFG also owed money to SA Water but that it was "up to date" on other payments to the state government, such as payroll tax.
When asked about the amount GFG owed to contractors, Mr Malinauskas said the government's task force had received information from time to time from the private company but would like a "greater degree of transparency and clarity over the size of the debts" it has.
However, he said the state government was aware that the "monies owed by GFG, outside of the monies owed to the South Australian government, is in the order of tens of millions of dollars".
GFG has previously committed to replacing its aging blast furnace with an electric arc furnace. (ABC News: Che Chorley)
The new hydrogen power plant and storage facility were a key Labor promise before the 2022 state election, and have repeatedly been touted as a potential source of hydrogen fuel to enable Whyalla steelworks owner GFG Alliance to launch its long-promised transition to carbon-neutral green steelmaking.
But on Wednesday, Mr Malinauskas stopped short of guaranteeing that the $600 million investment was necessarily destined for the hydrogen project.
"To realise the economic opportunity in upper Spencer Gulf through green iron production, which is associated with hydrogen, we've got to make sure we spend it in such a way that is in concert with an active partner," Mr Malinauskas told ABC Radio Adelaide.
"The state government is all in, the money's there in the budget, it's not coming out of the budget, we want to get that money out the door."
The premier was then asked whether that meant the government would consider spending the $600 million on projects other than the hydrogen plant.
"I'll tell you what it will be used for — it'll be used for the expenditure [on] the economic opportunity in Whyalla. The people of Whyalla need to know that this government is spending, and is going to spend, big money up there," he said.
"But we've got to keep an eye on what's going on in the steelworks because if we produced a hydrogen facility without the steelworks being a customer of the hydrogen — because GFG doesn't invest in the steelworks or, worse still, found itself in even more challenging financial circumstances than it is currently in — then we put ourselves in a precarious position."
In a statement, GFG said it remained "resolute" in its commitment to the transition to green iron and steel.
"We continue to talk to the state government about the security of our energy needs, being hydrogen and natural gas via a new or expanded gas lateral, which is required for future investment," he said.
An artist's impression from 2021 of the $593 million hydrogen plant. (Supplied: SA Government)
Opposition leader Vincent Tarzia accused the government of "using GFG and uncertainty around the Whyalla steelworks" to back away from the hydrogen project, saying the premier was "fast running out of runway".
"We know it's been four years in the making and [there's been] barely a shovel in the ground," he said today.
"There's certainly been a change of language.
"At the end of the day, there shouldn't be any scapegoat — if the premier has stuffed up, if he's spending a fortune of taxpayer dollars towards something that is a vanity project, then he should … say exactly that, and pull this project."
The opposition claims the hydrogen power plant could escalate from $593 million to $700 million to $1 billion.
In November, Premier Peter Malinauskas said the hydrogen project was important for the state's future prosperity. (ABC News: Lincoln Rothall)
Late last year, the premier was adamant he had "made a commitment" to hydrogen, saying it was "absolutely the right thing to do" for both Whyalla and the "economic prosperity of the state".
"We want to produce hydrogen so that it gets used domestically for green iron production or, in the first instance, electricity generation," Mr Malinauskas said in November.
'Doesn't have the capital'
Mr Malinauskas today reiterated his concerns about the Whyalla steelworks' future, saying they had been "escalating rather than diminishing" in recent days despite the recent resumption of steelmaking following repairs to the blast furnace.
"The state government is willing to do its bit," the premier said.
"What we need is an owner of the steelworks who's willing to do theirs and we're just increasingly concerned that GFG doesn't have the capital that is required to invest in the steelworks."
The treasurer confirmed the hydrogen project was linked to the fate of the steelworks. (ABC News: Che Chorley)
When asked today whether the government would put the hydrogen project on hold, Treasurer Stephen Mullighan did not directly respond to that question, but confirmed the project was linked to the future of the steelworks.
"We want steelmaking in South Australia to transition to a more sustainable, greener future by decarbonising it, which is the role of our hydrogen jobs plan," he said.
"Those two things run together, and we continue to maintain major efforts to pursue those two different initiatives — getting the steelworks back on track and pursuing our hydrogen jobs plan."
I thought it was strange, when they recently talked about spending a ton of money on beautifying Whyalla, that sort of announcement usually precedes bad news.
Basic problem at Whyalla isn't the hydrogen but rather it's the viability of the steelworks itself no matter what energy sources and technologies it uses.
Yes I worked at the Kwinana furnace, before it closed, very hard to compete with China.Basic problem at Whyalla isn't the hydrogen but rather it's the viability of the steelworks itself no matter what energy sources and technologies it uses.
One thing with Chinese steel is that I'd be surprised if most of it passes Australian standards. When I was doing alterations on steel tank platforms, I'd be hanging upside 25 meters in the air drilling holes in Chinese beams with a rotor broach and the steel hardness was different consistency throughout the beam, never saw that with the BHP stuff. In one spot it would drill like butter the next hole would blunt the cutting bit.
I never got to work on anything like bridges or highrises, most of my work was mining framework structures, only really saw BHP beams used in older mines. I think the engineer's ethos was that the structure is only meant to last 10 years.
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