The Tasmanian Government has welcomed a proposal to redevelop the commissioned Bell Bay Power Station into a $1.2 billion green methanol and hydrogen plant.
According to Minister for Energy and Renewables, Guy Barnett, one of the beneficiaries is likely heavy vehicles.
“Green methanol/hydrogen can be used to transition advanced manufacturing, heavy transport and energy intensive industries to renewable energy, as well as for export,” he said.
“This is an exciting opportunity because it is a step towards the creation of a new $1.2 billion clean energy production facility, but it also provides an innovative solution to re-develop the mothballed oil-fired Bell Bay Power Station that was built in 1971.”
The proposal comes after ABEL Energy successfully negotiated a deal with Hydro Tasmania as the preferred proponent for the Bell Bay site, following an EOI process launched in December 2022.
The Tasmanian Government is confident that the Bell Bay Precinct will play a pivotal role in Australia’s affordable clean energy future and will foster ongoing collaboration between industry, universities, other research institutions and innovators.
“With our world class wind resource, Tasmania is an ideal location to produce cost-competitive renewable methanol/hydrogen on a large-scale to meet this emerging export and domestic demand and become a global leader in renewable energy supply,” Barnett said.
In other news, Woolworths Group has announced its aim to make all its home delivery trucks 100 per cent electric-powered by 2030.
