Hydrogen Fuels Australia (H2FA) and Clara Energy have signed an agreement to streamline the $600 million development of a green hydrogen distribution network along the Hume Highway corridor.
The two hydrogen companies said they will develop up to five hydrogen refuelling stations between Melbourne and Sydney, with the first slated to open in 2025.
Clara Energy will kickstart the operations of the first facility located in Tarcutta, New South Wales, which will be one of the world’s largest green hydrogen production projects.
Both companies will collaborate on operating the facility. Clara Energy will handle the development of the project’s production capacity, and H2FA will serve as the distributor and station operator. The station will have the capacity in stage one to produce approximately 25,000 kilograms per day of green hydrogen.
The hydrogen distribution network is aimed at supporting freight and logistics companies transitioning from the use of diesel to hydrogen.
“What this partnership aims to create, for the first time in Australia, is to deliver green hydrogen production and distribution at scale. We believe green hydrogen is necessary to decarbonise heavy freight and ultimately lead to the complete displacement of diesel for green hydrogen,” said Francesco Ceravolo, managing director of H2FA.
As part of the agreement, the companies have mapped out plans to build additional green hydrogen refuelling stations in Epping and Seymour in Victoria, along with one in Southen Highlands of NSW and another facility in Sydney.
H2FA’s own largescale hydrogen refuelling station is currently under construction in Truganina, at the centre of Melbourne’s largest warehousing and distribution region.
