Australian independent Woodside Petroleum has formed a joint venture with US-based hydrogen fuel cell heavy vehicle producer Hyzon Motors to build an initial 290MW facility in Oklahoma to fuel electrolysis to produce up to 90 t/d of liquid hydrogen for the heavy transport sector. A final investment decision (FID) on the project is planned for next year's second half.

First production from the project, known as H2OK, is planned for 2025, Woodside said. The joint venture has secured a lease and an option to purchase 38 hectares of land in Ardmore, Oklahoma to build the facility, which has space for expansion of up to 550MW or 180 t/d, Woodside said. There are plans for similar land acquisition to build other hydrogen production facilities in the US, Woodside said.

Woodside has completed preliminary design of the modular, production facility and is evaluating tenders to enable the start of front-end engineering design before the end of this year.

Woodside and Hyzon also intend to explore opportunities to work together on projects to assess hydrogen demand, supply and infrastructure solutions.

Woodside said last month it plans to make a FID in 2023 on its proposed H2TAS hydrogen plant at Bell Bay in Australia's Tasmania state. The initial phase of H2TAS will target 200,000 t/yr of ammonia from hydropower and wind sources for export. It also joined a consortium of South Korean firms to create HyStation, a company that aims to build and operate hydrogen refuelling stations to service public buses in South Korea.