Provaris Energy Ltd (ASX:PV1, OTC:GBBLF) and expansion partner Norwegian Hydrogen AS are expanding their collaboration to focus on accelerating the development of new hydrogen export facilities across the Nordic region.
The two companies are confident they can leverage pre-development work carried out for the FjordH2 project, completed in 2023, across new sites.
This partnership is reviewing several potential sites across multiple countries in the Scandinavian region intending to develop a portfolio of hydrogen development projects.
Together, Provaris and Norwegian Hydrogen intend to create an energy and capital-efficient suite of projects to deliver green hydrogen to European industrial users, supporting EU decarbonisation efforts.
Feeding hydrogen into EU economy
“A new collaboration with Norwegian Hydrogen for greenfield sites in the Nordics builds on the success of our work together in 2023 and the platform they have developed in the Nordics as a producer of hydrogen,” Provaris Energy managing director and CEO Martin Carolan said.
“This partnership can accelerate development sites that will leverage Provaris’ downstream activities for supply of green hydrogen to German utilities who are seeking regional volumes of green hydrogen, and more recently, the joint development of a compressed hydrogen import terminal with Global Energy Storage (GES) at the Port of Rotterdam can provide market access to industrial offtake markets within the port and broader Europe.”
Potential new project sites will be selected based on access to grid connections and power sources, with capacity for state-of-the-art electrolysers and hydrogen compression facilities linked to export jetties.
Provaris’ H2Neo carriers will transport the hydrogen, while the H2Leo barge will serve for storage.
Developing comprehensive network
“While we develop a comprehensive network of production sites and distribution infrastructure across the entire Nordic region, to reduce emissions in the Nordics, we have also identified several sites with significant export potential,” Norwegian Hydrogen CEO Jens Berge said.
“While such locations could also be used to produce other derivatives such as e-methanol or green ammonia, we strongly believe that if the end demand is for gaseous hydrogen, nothing would be better than to avoid going via a derivative solely for transportation purposes.
“Provaris’ technology makes it possible to bring hydrogen in gaseous form all the way from production in the Nordics to the customers in continental Europe.”
The two companies intend to select sites for further pre-feasibility studies in 2024, focusing on hydrogen production and export logistics with an emphasis on safety, environmental and regulatory concerns.
Each joint development project will be subject to a project-specific definitive development agreement to be agreed and executed.
Provaris is also advancing its H2Neo carrier, with ongoing prototype testing in Norway aimed at final construction approvals by mid-2024.