NT to anoint fracking, hydrogen and battery minerals...
NT to anoint fracking, hydrogen, battery mineral hopefuls
Ben Potter and Brad Thompson
Jun 7, 2023 – 4.01pm
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A controversial gas fracking hopeful, two aspiring battery minerals producers, Fortescue Future Industries, and oil and gas giant Total – pushing green hydrogen projects – are among the front runners for roles in the Northern Territory government’s Middle Arm Sustainable Development Precinct.
FFI and TotalEren are the clean energy arms of Andrew Forrest’s Fortescue Metals Group and French oil and gas major Total. The shortlist includes Tamboran Resources, which wants to develop the giant Beetaloo gas field; Tivan, which plans to process vanadium from a giant deposit in northern Western Australia for batteries; and Avenira, which has a phosphate deposit and an in-principle deal to make lithium phosphate batteries with a Taiwanese group.
Northern Territory Chief Minister Natasha Fyles is expected to announce initial partners for the Middle Arm precinct plan within days. James Brickwood
The NT government is expected to announce the next stage of its ambitious Middle Arm Sustainable Development Precinct plan – for which the Albanese government has allocated $1.5 billion of budget funding for port and facilities – within days.
The inclusion of Tamboran Resources, which plans to frack – or hydraulically fracture – the Beetaloo’s vast gas resource, will be hotly opposed by environmental activists but is no surprise given the strong support from the NT and federal governments for the role of gas as a transitional fuel in decarbonisation.
The focus on gas infrastructure will exacerbate concerns the initial mission of the MASDP – to support clean energy and decarbonisation – has been subordinated to the expansion of gas production, which the International Energy Agency says is incompatible with net-zero emissions goals. However, the green hydrogen and battery minerals proponents in the mix may partly alleviate the concern.
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FFI hired former NT chief minister Michael Gunner to lead a new northern Australia team last October and is a front runner in the race for land at Middle Arm Point for a green hydrogen project.
Mr Gunner declined to comment on Wednesday on FFI’s prospects for inclusion in any announcement but he told The Australian Financial Review: “Fortescue sees enormous potential in the NT, with world-class solar resources and a community enthusiastic to embrace renewable energy and the employment intensive industries that come with it.”
He continued: “We are backing the NT and have established an office of northern Australia that will work to meet this potential and develop renewable energy projects in the territory.“
Tamboran, Tivan, TotalEren and Avenira declined to comment.
TotalEren signed a non-binding agreement with the NT government last August to build a gigawatt scale green hydrogen project near Darwin backed by a 4 gigawatt solar farm. Kam Ho, TotalEren’s managing director in the Asia Pacific, said the green hydrogen project was a top priority for the group and would include substantial assets within the MASDP.
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“We have a very strong working relationship with the NT government and we are moving ahead with the project in a very collaborative manner,” Mr Ho said. “So we hope that we’d definitely be active within the precinct.”
Tamboran got the green light from NT Chief Minister Natasha Fyles to frack the Beetaloo – one of the world’s largest undeveloped gas fields – last month. It plans to start drilling next month.
Tamboran Resources will start fracking the Beetaloo Basin next month. Justin McManus
FFI’s endorsement of the MASDP comes despite Dr Forrest falling out with fellow billionaire Mike Cannon-Brookes over the Sun Cable project in the NT.
Dr Forrest said last month he was unconvinced about the commercial viability of a subsea cable linking Darwin to customers in Singapore and that his privately owned Squadron Energy didn’t participate in the final binding bid process to buy Sun Cable from receivers.
However, any FFI green hydrogen project at Middle Arm Point will need a substantial source of renewable energy.
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Quinbrook Infrastructure Partners, Mr Cannon-Brookes’ new investment partner in Sun Cable, told the Financial Review last week that the renewable side of the project was of sufficient scale to power a green hydrogen project and meet Singapore’s stated requirements.
Meanwhile, Japan’s Inpex, which runs the Ichthys LNG plant near Middle Arm Point, will share in a $1 million grant from the Albanese government as part of its efforts to foster clean hydrogen production.
The taxpayer funds will be used by Inpex and its partners – Santos, Xodus and CSIRO – for a feasibility study into the growth potential of clean hydrogen produced from both renewables and fossil fuels with carbon capture and storage in Darwin.
The Darwin Clean Hydrogen Hub joint study will look at opportunities to supply clean hydrogen solutions to domestic and international customers.
Inpex executive Tetsu Murayama said the study would assess the potential of a Darwin-based hydrogen hub and could inform investment decisions.
The joint study is intended to complement the current CSIRO-led Low Emission Hub business case being conducted with Inpex, Santos, Woodside Energy, Eni, Xodus and the NT government.
The Inpex plans in hydrogen include commercialising three or more projects globally by about 2030 with the aim of producing 100,000 tonnes or more of hydrogen/ammonia a year.