Hydrogen Utility (H2U) and Vopak Terminals Australia have announced their collaboration in relation to H2U’s H₂-Hub Gladstone project, a multi-billion renewable energy complex producing green H₂ and green ammonia, proposed to be established in Gladstone, Queensland.

H₂-Hub Gladstone is the largest green H₂ and ammonia development in Queensland, with 3 GW in planned electrolyzer capacity and over 1.7 MMtpy of planned green ammonia production, and one of the most advanced export projects on a global scale. H2U and Vopak will collaborate with existing partners to progress development of the project, focusing mainly on the Export Terminal of H₂-Hub Gladstone.

H2U has recently announced strategic collaborations and green ammonia offtake with partners in the domestic and export markets, including:

• Orica Australia, the world’s largest provider of commercial explosives, operating the nearby Orica Yarwun Manufacturing Facility
• Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI Group), one of the world’s leading industrial groups, spanning energy, smart infrastructure, industrial machinery, aerospace and defense
• Korea East-West Power (Korea EWP), one of six key power generation companies in Korea and is a wholly owned subsidiary of Korea Electric Power Corporation or KEPCO, and the operator of the multi-GW Dangjin Power Generation complex.

Vopak Terminals Australia is a wholly owned subsidiary of Royal Vopak, a leading independent tank storage company with 78 terminals in 23 countries. Vopak has more than 20 years of experience in storing ammonia and owns and operates six ammonia terminals worldwide. Vopak's expertise and presence in the main industrial clusters around the world makes the company well-equipped to actively contribute to the development of new supply chains for green ammonia and H₂. Half of Vopak's growth investments towards 2030 are aimed for infrastructure accelerating the energy transition. Next to this project in Australia, Vopak is preparing for business opportunities in green ammonia in the Netherlands, Singapore and US. Vopak has been active in Australia for more than 40 years.

Queensland Government Minister and Gladstone MP Glenn Butcher said projects and partnerships like this are propelling Queensland towards becoming a clean energy powerhouse. “This facility is right in line with the Palaszczuk Government’s vision for a clean, green future, with the added bonus of hundreds of good, local jobs.”

Paul Kanters, Managing Director of Vopak Terminals Australia, said the collaboration with H2U was a natural progression of Vopak’s participation in the development of a global green ammonia value chain. “This partnership fits well within Vopak strategic goal to accelerate towards New Energies. We are excited to help shape a sustainable future by developing infrastructure solutions for new vital products, focusing on zero- and low-carbon H₂, ammonia, CO₂, long duration energy storage and sustainable feedstocks,” Kanters said. “Our participation in the H₂-Hub Gladstone project, announced today, positions Vopak as a key partner in one of the leading and most advanced green H₂ and green ammonia projects worldwide,” said Kanters.

H2U Founder and CEO, Dr. Attilio Pigneri commented on the collaboration with Vopak as a valuable addition to the skills and capabilities of the H₂-Hub Gladstone consortium. “Vopak’s expertise, strong capability, and industry-leading track record as a multi-product storage terminal operator combined with their presence in the main industrial and port clusters globally, and within the Asia-Pacific region, brings H₂-Hub Gladstone in a unique position to support offtakers in the rapidly growing market for green ammonia exports, including in the power generation and shipping sectors,” said Dr. Pigneri. “H2U and project partners can now work with Vopak and leverage their unique know-how and expertise to progress front-end engineering activities for the Export Terminal of H₂-Hub Gladstone, with a view to support existing and future green ammonia offtake partners.”

In a Queensland-first, H₂-Hub Gladstone was in April 2022 declared a Coordinated Project by the Queensland Coordinator-General under the State Development and Public Works Organization Act 1971 (Qld) and has been issued the final Terms of Reference for an Environmental Impact Statement on February 3, 2023.