Site works begin on game changing community hydrogen project in the remote Gascoyne

May 07 2021

Horizon Power has commenced construction on Australia’s first renewable hydrogen energy plant in a remote microgrid, in the Gascoyne town of Denham.

Today marks the commencement of site works on the business’ dedicated
704 kilowatt (kW) solar farm to power its innovative hydrogen plant and will feature a 348kW electrolyser, hydrogen compression and storage and a 100kW fuel cell allowing the production and storage of hydrogen.

The remote microgrid project will deliver electricity into the Denham hybrid power system and will generate 526 MWh of renewable electricity per year, which is equivalent to the energy required to power 100 residential households in Denham annually.

Construction is expected to begin on the hydrogen power plant in August this year. Horizon Power is working closely with local and surrounding regional businesses and the community to identify supplier and employment opportunities during construction.

Horizon Power Chief Executive Officer Stephanie Unwin said the business has made the strategic decision to upgrade its existing power station in Denham rather than build a new power station.

“Upgrades will be made to the existing station to support the integration of the renewable hydrogen demonstration plant which will test the technical capability of hydrogen as a dispatchable power source in remote microgrids across regional Western Australia.” 

“Horizon Power’s hydrogen plant will demonstrate how hydrogen can reliably produce power for towns currently dependant on diesel fuel power systems. It will allow Horizon Power to transition our network away from higher emission generating sources and meet our target of no new diesel generation systems from 2025” Ms Unwin said. 

“This technology has the potential to be an environmental game changer for many remote areas of Western Australia, and allow greater uptake of reliable cleaner, greener renewable energy sources in the future.”

This Project has received $2.6 million funding from the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA), as part of ARENA’s Advancing Renewables Program. A further $5.7 million has also been provided by the Western Australian Government as part of its WA Recovery Plan, this includes $1.0 million from the WA Renewable Hydrogen Fund.

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