The Northern Territory government in Australia has signed an agreement with French renewables developer Total Eren to develop a new gigawatt-scale green hydrogen production facility in Darwin.

The proposed Darwin H2 Hub, to be built on a 4,000-hectare site near the territory's capital, would include more than 2 GW of solar. The PV installation would provide energy for a 1 GW electrolyzer that would produce more than 80,000 tons of hydrogen per year.

NT Chief Minister Natasha Fyles said the Darwin H2 Hub would target both the domestic and international markets.

“With our abundant solar resources and our strategic location to support exports into the Indo-Pacific, the production of green hydrogen is a key opportunity for the territory to address the growing demand for this green energy globally,” she said.

Total Eren Australia’s managing director, Kam Ho, said the partnership reinforced the company’s commitments to invest in Australia and low-carbon energy sources.

“Our plan is to accelerate the development of the project to supply green hydrogen and also the opportunity to provide renewable energy which supports the decarbonization plans for energy-intensive industries in the territory,” he said.

Paris-based Total Eren has more than 3.5 GW of renewable energy assets in operation or under construction throughout the world. It announced its entry into the Australian market in 2018 with the development of the 256 MW Kiamal Solar Farm in Victoria.

Late last year, it added another project to its pipeline, signing a deal with Australian miner Province Resources to progress plans for a massive 8 GW green hydrogen facility in Western Australia. It recently submitted a feasibility study for the HyEnergy green hydrogen export project to the Western Australian government for final review. The study analyzed the annual export of 200,000 tons of green hydrogen to countries in the Asia-Pacific region, with a focus on delivery into Singapore.

Total Eren Chief Executive Officer David Corchia said the green hydrogen projects are part of the company’s ambition to position itself at the forefront of the development of the hydrogen sector.

“Total Eren has made the strategic decision more than two years ago to develop multi-GW wind and solar projects in locations benefiting from exceptional natural resources,” he said. “Those projects will aim at delivering clean and reliable energy sources in the form of hydrogen or its derivatives.”