Aqua Aerem and Osaka Gas to develop $11 billion hydrogen project in Australia

Green hydrogen tech developer Aqua Aerem has partnered with Japanese gas company Osaka Gas to develop green hydrogen production in Australia's Northern Territory for domestic consumption and export.

PHOTO: A model of Aqua Aerem's water capture technology. Aqua Aerem

The 10GW Desert Bloom Hydrogen project will have a nameplate capacity to produce 410,000 mt/year of green hydrogen when production units are fully up and running.

Aqua Aerem has patented an air-to-water technology, which it says can produce commercial volumes of green hydrogen without depleting water sources.

The firm's chief executive Gerard Reiter says partnering with Osaka Gas "is opening the door for green hydrogen projects to be located where the best renewable power sources are available, which is generally in the driest areas of the planet.”

For its part, Osaka Gas will provide technical, procurement and sales support to the project.

The project is based on an off-grid system and will use a series of 2MW Hydrogen Producing Units (HPU) to capture water from air. The HPUs will also produce heat, electricity and green hydrogen.

The project is backed by Sanguine Impact Investment, which has a majority stake in Aqua Aerem.

Sanguine managing director David Green predicts green hydrogen can be produced at $0.002/mt within five years because it the HPUs will generate revenue from the start and does not require large upfront investments.