Fortescue and Fabrum have commissioned the new facility, the biggest in Australia

The largest liquid hydrogen plant in Australia, which is located at a mine site in the country, is now operational as a part of the green energy hub at Christmas Creek.

The clean power hub is located in Western Australia

The Christmas Creek liquid hydrogen facility comprises an H2 liquefaction plant, H2 storage, and a refuelling station, and was recently unveiled by Fortescue and Fabrum. The latter of the two, an engineering company based in New Zealand, played a central role in the delivery and end-to-end liquid hydrogen ecosystem that will be used for the decarbonization of the mining operations at the Fortescue location.

The H2 produced at the facility will be used for powering the zero-emissions mining equipment prototypes being tested by Fortescue, including its H2-powered haul truck prototype and its offboard power unit.

A solid daily hydrogen production capacity

The plant is currently able to produce about 350 kilograms of liquid hydrogen per day. It can store about 600 kilograms of the fuel.

“Fortescue is moving at rapid speed to decarbonize and the completion of our hydrogen facility, which is the largest gaseous and liquid hydrogen plant on any mine site in Australia, is testament to our commitment to leading heavy industry in decarbonizing,” explained Dino Otranto, CEO of Fortescue Metals in a recent news release. “Hydrogen and fuels made using renewable energy will have a role to play in decarbonizing mining, whether it’s in buses, heavy mining equipment such as haul trucks and excavators, or producing green iron.”

Otranto went on to point out that the facility has substantial versatility, making it possible for the mine to produce H2 in both gas and liquid forms, to power the mining equipment prototypes as needed. Moreover, the H2 can also be used to refuel the fleet of Christmas Creek coaches.

A new collaboration

The project is the first collaboration between Fabrum and Fortescue, and its success to this point has underscored the type of opportunity that many firms are identifying in this area of clean energy. The companies have expressed interest in working with each other in future projects.