Ampol to produce green hydrogen at Lytton oil refinery site
Ampol Limited, formerly Caltex Australia, has signed a Heads of Agreement (HoA) with Fusion Fuel Green PLC, a green hydrogen technology company, to develop a green hydrogen production plant at the Lytton oil refinery site in Queensland, Australia.
The project includes the installation of a demonstrator plant for the production of green hydrogen, using Fusion Fuel’s proprietary HEVO-SOLAR technology, at Ampol’s Lytton refinery site in Brisbane. It is expected that the plant will be commissioned and operational within the next 12 month.
The HoA also provides a framework for the companies to enter into a 50-50 joint venture to pursue other green hydrogen opportunities in the region.
“This represents an important step in our plans to establish Fusion Fuel as a global player in the hydrogen ecosystem. Early on we identified Australia as a key market for us, as the country’s national hydrogen strategy seeks to position Australia as a major producer of green hydrogen. Australia’s abundance of solar energy makes it among the absolute best geographies for our HEVO-SOLAR solution, which combines concentrating photovoltaic technology with our proprietary microelectrolyzer, allowing us to produce green hydrogen at costs comparable to grey and brown hydrogen,” said Jeffrey Schwarz, chairman of Fusion Fuel.
“The great distances Australians often must traverse can prove challenging for battery electric vehicles given their range limitations and extended recharging times. Green hydrogen solves both of those problems, with range and refueling time comparable to gasoline or diesel vehicles, all while being completely carbon-free. Australia is an importer of significant quantities of gasoline, diesel, and jet fuel, so our ability to produce green fuels domestically should prove economically compelling as well as climate friendly. As Australia’s largest and best-known distributor of fuels at both the wholesale and retail level, Ampol is the ideal partner for us.”
“We are excited to collaborate with Fusion Fuel in this venture as we work to deliver our Future Energy and Decarbonisation Strategy. This partnership also demonstrates the key role our strategic infrastructure will play in our strategy, with the Lytton site providing a perfect location given available land, existing skills and expertise at the refinery, access to distribution channels and the ability to tie into key utilities. Over the long-term, this technology could also provide the opportunity to introduce green energy into the refinery to help support our commitments to reduce carbon emissions across our operations,” said Brent Merrick, Ampol’s executive general manager, Commercial.
