INTERVIEW: InterContinental Energy to deepen ties with South Korea for renewable energy
- Author: Ruchira Singh
- Editor: Surbhi Prasad
- Commodity: Energy Transition
HIGHLIGHTS
Modular build approach for WGEH, AREH
Renewable H2 price seen falling around 2030s
Captive port plan for WGEH in infrastructure push
InterContinental Energy is looking to forge deeper ties with South Korea for clean energy technology, finance, and trade, following Korea Electric Power Corporation’s (KEPCO) agreement to advance the renewable hydrogen developer’s top Australian project, an InterContinental executive said Sept. 10.
InterContinental’s 50-GW Western Green Energy Hub (WGEH) in southeast of Western Australia, and KEPCO, South Korea’s largest energy utility, signed an agreement this month to conduct feasibility studies for stage one of the renewable hydrogen/ammonia project.
“What we’re trying to do is bring the whole Korean ecosystem early on, in the understanding of this project so that we can partner with them on more than just a customer-supplier relationship,” InterContinental Energy’s Head of Australia, Isaac Hinton told S&P Global Commodity Insights.
“So, we work with KEPCO and other South Korean organizations on everything (starting) from the technology that they have in terms of wind, solar, electrolyzers and ammonia,” Hinton said ahead of the Sept. 12-13 Asia Pacific Hydrogen 2024 Summit and Exhibition in Brisbane.
InterContinental Energy will also look at how to partner with South Korean entities in the early stages of the project on financing, engineering, and construction, and build on existing expertise, according to Hinton.
InterContinental Energy is developing WGEH, the largest renewable hydrogen/ammonia project in Australia, along with CWP Global and traditional partner-owners Mirning Green Energy.
According to the company’s website, at full scale, WGEH has the potential to produce up to 3.5 million metric tons per year of renewable hydrogen, for domestic and international customers, including South Korea.
Co-firing demand emerges
Hinton said Japan and South Korea are prepared for renewable/low carbon ammonia and hydrogen to form more of their energy mix as power plants start to co-fire low-carbon ammonia in test cases.
South Korea launched an auction this year for clean hydrogen fired power generation for up to 6,500 GW of electricity produced per year over a 15-year period, starting by 2028.
Meanwhile, in Japan, JERA completed a 20% ammonia cofiring test at its 1-GW coal-fired unit at Hekinan thermal power plant in June, marking the world’s first co-firing of ammonia in such a plant.
“It is likely that they are going to roll that out to their fleet and increase that share,” Hinton said. “Green ammonia is going to be our main focus here in the early 2030s.”
With this gradual emerging demand, InterContinental Energy has adopted a modular approach for its projects so that they can be built in stages and be repeatable over time, Hinton said.
For instance, the first phase of InterContinental’s other project, the 26-GW Australian Renewable Energy Hub (AREH) in Pilbara, where BP is the operator, is likely to supply renewable electricity to mining customers in Pilbara which accounts for 41% of Western Australia’s emissions, he added.
“The next phase would be more wind than solar (feeding) into electrolyzers for ammonia or iron (sectors) and the next phase after, that something similar again,” he said. “Possibly in 10 or 15 years when another phase is being built, it could be adapted for SAF or methanol.”
Captive port
The other development at the WGEH is to include a captive port that will become a part of the project site, Hinton said.
InterContinental Energy is now developing and preparing to submit an environmental approval for WGEH combined with the captive port likely this year.
“One of the things we’ve been working with the state government is an area of land to be considered for future port which makes sense because of the fact that it’s an incredibly isolated part of Australia and there is no safe harbor at all,” Hinton said.
“So, we are thinking of producing a small port there not necessarily for the export but for more for the inbound logistics,” he said, adding that export of renewable ammonia from WGEH is likely to be through an offshore buoy.
Costs to fall
In the bigger picture, infrastructure remains a big challenge to bring down the cost of renewable hydrogen production, Hinton said. For a lot of common user infrastructure build, support from governments is crucial.
Demand for renewable hydrogen is unlikely to be seen in the early stages but having a supply chain ready when technology improves, will help push its cost down in the 2030s, Hinton said.
“Once that infrastructure is built, we see the prices come down significantly immediately after the first phase to be well within the prices that are considered to be required for the green hydrogen,” Hinton said.
“We talk about the $2-$4/kg — that is exactly what we are targeting in the medium term,” he said, referring to the cost benchmark for renewable hydrogen to be commercially viable.
Improving efficiencies of electrolyzers from 60% to 95% by 2030 is also going to improve the cost of the hydrogen, he added.
Besides this, the excessive amount of renewable power capacity being built, is also expected to lower the cost of renewable hydrogen going ahead, he added.
Platts, part of Commodity Insights, assessed Western Australia hydrogen produced via alkaline electrolysis (including capex) at $4.25/kg Sept. 9, down 16.83% month on month.
Platts assessed Japan hydrogen produced via alkaline electrolysis (including capex) at $7.40/kg Sept. 10, up 11.95% from a month ago.
InterContinental Energy’s project development | |
2014 | Alex Tancock launches firm to produce renewable energy at scale |
2015 | AREH develops in Pilbara eyeing supply to Singapore |
2017 | AREH submits Environmental Impact Assessment to Western Australia |
Green Energy Oman develops with sovereign wealth fund of Oman | |
2018 | Pivots to renewable hydrogen as it gets identified as important vector |
2019 | WGEH development starts after agreement with Mirning People |
2020 | AREH gets permits |
2022 | Government of Singapore Investment Corp becomes strategic investor in firm |
BP takes operatorship of AREH | |
2023 | Shell joins Green Energy Oman as lead operating partner |
Project agreements with Hydrom as part of Green Energy Oman | |
Government of Singapore Investment Corp, Hy24 investments at $115 mil | |
2024 | Ties with KEPCO for stage one feasibility study of WGEH |
Source: InterContinental Energy |
Media Inquiries
Jane Nathans, Communications Director, InterContinental Energy
Email: jane.nathans@