Frontier Energy Ltd (ASX:FHE) has kicked off a Pre-Front End Engineering Design (pre-FEED) study for a hydrogen facility at its Bristol Springs Renewable Energy Project aimed at improving the level of confidence in the project in Western Australia.
The company has appointed global engineering firm GHD to carry out the study, which is expected to be completed in the fourth quarter.
Pre-FEED follows a pre-feasibility study completed last month to examine the potential for a 114 megawatt (MW) solar farm to power a 36.6MW alkaline electrolyser for annual production of about 4.4 million kilograms of green hydrogen.
The new study is an essential step to allow Frontier to conclude offtake and project financing negotiations.
“GHD is widely regarded as one of the leaders in the hydrogen industry regarding design and development and we are pleased to have them on board," Frontier executive chairman Grant Davey said.
"We continue to see significant interest in the sector and we are moving at an accelerated rate to ensure we have the ability to be one of the first significant green hydrogen projects into production in Western Australia.”
Robust and low cost
Frontier chose an alkaline water electrolyser (AWE) based on its lower overall cost and robustness to produce green hydrogen at purity of more than 99.98%. AWE is a mature green hydrogen technology offering the lowest cost per kilowatt of installed capacity, long-term operational stability and extended plant life.
As electrolyser plants are modular, the selection of AWE does not lock the company into a particular technology in the event of future advances.
Scope of work
GHD will assess the hydrogen production case for a 36.6MW electrolyser for input into a Class 3 CAPEX and OPEX estimate including:
- Electrolyser integration and assessment of utility requirements.
- Cooling plant selection and high-level sizing.
- Water supply/storage system design.
- Power system design.
- Hydrogen compression, storage and delivery to users including pipeline to nearby blending point and tube trailer loading.
- Balance of Plant assessment including buildings, control systems, vent, safety and utility systems.