Hazer Group announced a major achievement in the development of its Commercial Demonstration Plant, confirming that it has successfully operated continuously and stably for over 240 hours, marking a crucial milestone in its performance testing.
The ongoing “testing – modification – testing” work by our scientists, engineers and technicians has resulted in excellent performance and demonstration of high reliability for our first-of-a-kind technology,” said Hazer CEO Glenn Corrie.
He added, “We have achieved another major milestone that enables the commercialisation of the Hazer process and supports our growth strategy globally.”
During the 240-hour operation, the CDP demonstrated several key objectives, including continuous production with the injection of catalyst into the reactor bed, stable and reliable solids separation from the product gas stream, and operational reliability with process uptime exceeding targets.
The plant is now operating in a steady state mode, with continuous production of hydrogen and graphite, the company said in an ASX announcement.
As the CDP moves forward, the current operations are being optimised to produce commercially representative graphite.
The graphite produced will undergo quality verification to ensure consistency before distribution to major partners for large-scale testing and analysis.
Moreover, this milestone satisfies a key performance requirement under the ARENA funding agreement, unlocking the next tranche of funding in January 2025.
This non-dilutive cash flow will support Hazer’s ongoing commercialisation strategy.
In addition to this, the CDP results are being used to advance four existing commercial projects with major partners including POSCO, ENGIE, Chubu Electric/Chiyoda Corporation, and FortisBC.
The data is also aiding the advancement of new customer projects and strategic partnership opportunities.
The next steps for the CDP include planned maintenance and inspections, during which the extensive steady state operation dataset will be analysed.
This analysis will further inform Hazer’s strategy as they push towards declaring commercial readiness next year.
