Australia Selects Turbines for Largest Green Hydrogen Project

Written by Martin Lynch, European News Editor for Industrial Info (Galway, Ireland)--Australia's bid to build the world's largest green hydrogen plant continues to progress rapidly after the South Australian government chose GE Vernova (Atlanta, Georgia) to supply four turbines that will run 100% on hydrogen.

The project in the Whyalla region will boast a 250-megawatt (MW) hydrogen electrolyser powered by renewables, a hydrogen storage facility and a 200-MW power plant based around four of GE's aeroderivative LM6000Velox turbine generators, each equipped with 50-MW LM6000 turbines. It will be the first plant in the world using GE turbines to run fully on green hydrogen. The turbines are engineered for regular starts and stops, GE stated, designed to support grids like South Australia's "that experience a high penetration of renewable generation." Construction will get underway this year with commissioning expected in early 2026. Whyalla will be significantly bigger than Australia's current largest green hydrogen electrolyzer, a 1.25-MW plant in Adelaide's Tonsley Park in South Australia which started operating in 2021.

The region's government has committed more than AUS$590 million (US$385 million) on the Whyalla project, the heart of its Hydrogen Jobs Plan to become a "first-mover, low-cost hydrogen supplier." South Australia gets 74% of its energy from solar and wind, and the goal is to be 100% renewable by 2030. South Australia's Minister for Infrastructure and Transport Tom Koutsantonis said: "The State Government has held fruitful and productive talks with GE Vernova and we're pleased to confirm the international energy company as the preferred supplier for the turbines that will power the Hydrogen Jobs Plan. This is indicative of the global significance of this project, which will underpin our state prosperity mission."

Premier Peter Malinauskas has also earmarked some of the plant's output for a nearby steelworks looking to transition to green steel production. On a recent visit to Whyalla steelworks in the Upper Spencer Gulf, he signed a deal with plant owner GFG Alliance (London, England) to sell hydrogen to the plant from 2026. He said the Whyalla hydrogen facility and the greening of Whyalla steelworks will lead the world through decarbonisation. "We got our own customer for the hydrogen that we produce, that would be the power plant itself...but if there is the opportunity to enter into a commercial offtake agreement, to realize the green iron and green steel opportunity, then we want to grab that too."

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