Perth-based company Province Resources, which announced its 8 GW HyEnergy project in 2021, said this week that it has now secured enough licences to support initial development. The project is still in the feasibility phase, but the company wants to produce 550,000 tons of green hydrogen per annum, with the first stage of the HyEnergy project to include 4 GW to 5 GW of solar and wind for its electrolyzers.

Province Resources (ASX: PRL) said in a stock exchange filing this week that the area earmarked for its HyEnergy development has been “further defined,” with the Western Australian government providing additional licences to support studies on land and water. The licenses include more than 864 hectares of the seabed near Carnarvon, allowing the company to completed detailed feasibility studies into building a port for green hydrogen export.

The company is actually exploring two different export options at the moment. The first is a traditional loading jetty port. The company's proposed port would be located about 20 km north of Carnarvon, adjacent to an area known locally as the Town Common, it said. The second option is an undersea pipeline that would allow for offshore ship loading via a floating buoy. It has partnered with fellow Western Australian company Provaris to explore this option.

The new license, the company said, is for an initial two-year term and provides for ongoing technical and environmental marine studies and investigations to be completed, presumably helping the company to identify its preferred export route.