Amp Energy finalises agreements for SA Advanced Fuels Precinct

Amp Energy (Amp) has announced it has finalised all required commercial agreements for the development of the Cape Hardy Advanced Fuels Precinct on the Eyre Peninsula in South Australia, which will provide production at scale with up to 10 GW of planned electrolyser capacity. Development will be structured to initially bring 1 GW online with incremental stages to reach 10 GW of total capacity. The project will both cater to the domestic Australian market, supporting the Australian Government’s net zero goals, while also featuring global export capabilities. To facilitate distribution, Cape Hardy will be equipped with Australia’s first purpose-built advanced fuels export terminal.

The agreements, which were executed with Iron Road Ltd, include the purchase of a 630-hectare parcel of land at Cape Hardy as well as a finalised royalty structure and common user infrastructure agreement.

Amp has been in discussions to develop the Cape Hardy Advanced Fuels precinct, in collaboration with Iron Road Ltd and the South Australian Government, for the past two years. The project’s concept, design and pre-Front End Engineering Design (FEED) phase have been studied and reviewed by engineering firms Arup and Technip Technologies, as Amp targets completion of pre-FEED studies for the first 1 GW electrolyser phase over the next nine months. FEED scoping and contracting is currently underway ahead of awarding the FEED contract in late 2024 or early 2025.

Desalinated water is to be sourced from the recently announced Northern Water Supply (NWS) seawater desalination plant that will be located at Cape Hardy to meet the project’s demand for electrolyser feed water, cooling water, process plant water and fire water. Amp is co-funding pre-FID expenditures for the NWS project.

“We are seeing growing demand for advanced fuels both in Australia and abroad. This includes green ammonia, liquid hydrogen, methanol and sustainable aviation fuel,” said Paul Ezekiel, Amp President and Co-founder. “The Cape Hardy Advanced Fuels Precinct will allow for large-scale production of these fuels that will be critical to the energy transition and achieving net zero targets.

“We could not be more excited about the project’s potential impact, and we are grateful for the partnership and continued support from Iron Road Ltd, the South Australian Government and BDAC as we progress full steam ahead on development.”

Minister for Trade and Investment Joe Szakacs said: “The state government recognises the strategic importance of the Cape Hardy Advanced Fuels Precinct attracting investment into the state for domestic and export opportunities, as there is an increasing flight to quality for hydrogen projects worldwide.”

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