Australian hydrogen shipping start-up Provaris Energy, formerly Global Energy Ventures (GEV), has teamed up with French renewable energy developer Total Eren to transport green hydrogen to Asia and Europe.
The ASX-listed Provaris is developing a 26,000 cu m compressed hydrogen carrier dubbed H2Neo, which is targeting approval for construction in mid-2023. The company also operates the 100,000 tonnes per year Tiwi hydrogen project on Australia’s Tiwi islands, some 80km north of Darwin, with the first production envisioned for 2027.
Total Eren is working on several large-scale green hydrogen projects, including in Chile, Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Australia, Morocco, Egypt and Mauritania. The plan for Australia includes an 80,000 tonnes per year green hydrogen hub in Darwin.
A memorandum of understanding will provide a framework for the duo to work together on the identification and assessment of green hydrogen projects currently developed by Total Eren that can utilise Provaris’ ships for bulk transport of compressed hydrogen in markets that require imported volumes of pure gaseous green hydrogen. The agreement includes the development of solutions that will meet the requirements of offtakers, port authorities, shipyards, and ship operators.
Provaris said the deal provides the company with a key partner to facilitate and accelerate the delivery of the first pure gaseous hydrogen (GH2) carrier, including investigation of a future financing scheme, as well as opportunities for an in-house developed compressed floating hydrogen storage solution (pictured below).
“Our discussions with Total Eren over time have identified a strong alignment on the commercial and technical benefits of compression for the storage and transport of hydrogen,” Provaris managing director Martin Carolan said. “We look forward to a closer relationship to facilitate and accelerate the delivery of the first fleet of GH2 carriers.”
