Green hydrogen produced at the Liddell Power station site could be used to fuel one of the world's largest clean energy projects.
Fortescue Future Industries (FFI) last week signed a global strategic partnership with energy infrastructure company Tree Energy Solutions (TES) to develop a cutting-edge green hydrogen and energy import facility in Germany.
As part of the partnership, FFI subsidiary Netherlands Fortescue Future Industries Holdings will invest $46million (EUR 30 million) to become a shareholder in TES and $154million (EUR 100 million) in the construction of the TES terminal in Wilhelmshaven, Germany.
The first phase of the partnership involves the two companies' joint development and investment in the supply of 300,000 tonnes of green hydrogen.
The initial delivery of green hydrogen into TES' terminal is expected in 2026.
Initial collaboration and supply projects have been identified in Australia, Europe, the Middle East, and Africa.
FFI chairman Twiggy Forrest, who visited the site last December, said the project had the potential to create about 1000 jobs.
It is expected that the project will form part of an emerging hydrogen export hub, which has already attracted interest from potential customers in Japan, South Korea and Singapore.
Demand for hydrogen exports from Australia is estimated at over 3 million tonnes per year by 2040, which could be worth up to $14 billion annually to the national economy.
The head of hydrogen at global management consultancy McKinsey Bernd Heid recently said the global green hydrogen market was expected to grow seven- or eight-fold by 2050.
On Monday, the head of the country's energy market operator said Australia was rapidly emerging as a hydrogen superpower.
The scenario predicts the development of a green hydrogen-based export industry and a transformation of the country's manufacturing and transport sectors.
AEMO chief executive Daniel Westerman said the development of hydrogen was occurring quickly and made the scenario now more likely than before.
"As you see developments in hydrogen electrolysers, hydrogen development and production in Europe for example and in Australia, I think we might see that perhaps that scenario has become more likely than less," he told The Australian Financial Review Energy & Climate Summit.
The federal government has committed $100 million on a hydrogen manufacturing and export hub in Newcastle.
The project will complement two hydrogen manufacturing projects in Newcastle, one a joint venture between the port and Macquarie Capital and the other led by Origin Energy.
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