Australia’s Provaris Energy has signed an import cooperation deal in Europe as part of its plan to operate compressed hydrogen carriers.
The company said it will work with Global Energy Storage (GES) to develop a gas facility at the GES terminal in Rotterdam.
GES is already working on a multi-product terminal for refrigerated ammonia and compressed hydrogen, with redeliveries into barges, rail, truck and the hydrogen grid, HyNetwork, operated by Gasunie.
The partners will now study the technical and economic viability of berthing and unloading Provaris’ H2Neo compressed hydrogen carriers.
“Both parties have a shared belief that the GES terminal in Rotterdam is an ideal site for bulk scale import of green hydrogen, given the early connection to the HyNetwork grid for gaseous supply to industrial users in the Port of Rotterdam and key industrials users in Europe,” they said.
Last year, Provaris Energy struck a deal to explore the storage and shipping of hydrogen to be produced by Gen2 Energy’s plant in Norway.
The companies intend to develop a large-scale European hydrogen supply chain.
Provaris has been granted approval in principle by the American Bureau of Shipping class society for two sizes of compressed hydrogen carriers — the 26,000-cbm H2Neo and 120,000-cbm H2Max.
Chief executive Martin Carolan told TradeWinds: “We continue to make progress on our final step in class approval with the prototype tank construction and testing underway for the H2Neo, with a target completion of mid-2024.”
The manufacturing milestone also unlocks an early revenue stream, with the production and sale of smaller hydrogen tanks in Norway from late 2024, the company believes.
Sydney-listed Provaris said it has entered a third non-binding memorandum of understanding with a “prominent international energy company”.
Together they will assess Provaris’ complete hydrogen delivery chain with a view to agreeing new projects.
