According to The Australian Financial Review, Orica CEO Sanjeev Gandhi has singled out Japanese and Korean power utilities as the earliest export customers for green ammonia from the company’s planned hydrogen hub near Newcastle, which is expected to get its final go-ahead before June 30, 2024.
Speaking after Orica announced an acceleration and expansion of its emissions reduction targets, Mr Gandhi said he expects the first molecules of green hydrogen to be produced at the 50-megawatt plant in 2026.
While Orica would only then start commercial negotiations with potential export customers, he said preliminary discussions with power utilities in Japan and South Korea clearly showed demand as utilities aim to start co-firing green ammonia with fossil fuels in power plants.

https://www.afr.com/companies/energy/orica-aims-higher-on-emission-reduction-goals-20230918-p5e5qo
 

According to The Australian Financial Review, Federal Energy Minister Chris Bowen says electric planes will be in the skies and a green hydrogen industry will be up and running by the end of the decade, as Australia charts its course to net zero carbon emissions by 2050.
Amid scepticism from some energy experts about whether Australia can meet its 2030 climate targets, Mr Bowen admitted it would be a “challenge” to achieve 43 per cent emissions reduction over the next seven years.
Mr Bowen said he was confident green hydrogen would be a viable option by 2030. “The economics of green hydrogen are very promising. It’s only 2023, but we are talking about creating a new industry from scratch.

https://www.afr.com/companies/energy/electric-planes-and-green-hydrogen-within-a-decade-bowen-says-20230915-p5e4xi
 

According to The Australian Financial Review, it’s by no means a lay-down misère for telco behemoth Telstra as it prepares to submit a binding offer for Versent, the cybersecurity play on the market via Goldman Sachs.
Street Talk can reveal Japan’s NTT, one of the world’s largest telecoms groups, is through to the second round of the auction and has engaged local investment bank Jefferies for help with diligence, funding and deal structure.
NTT, which has more than 330,000 employees in over 80 countries, shapes as a major obstacle to Telstra in its bid to become a full -service cybersecurity and technology player. The Japanese group makes $108 billion in revenue; services more than 75 of the Fortune Global 100 clients; and is one of the five biggest global IT services providers.

https://www.afr.com/street-talk/meet-telstra-s-advisory-line-up-for-versent-tilt-20230910-p5e3i9
 

According to The Australian Financial Review, Fortescue Metals executive chairman Andrew Forrest says he will accept the first generation of clean energy projects having lower rates of return than alternative growth options in the iron ore division, as mining boss Fiona Hick added to the extraordinary turnover of executives at the company.
Fortescue has pledged to take a final investment decision on five clean energy projects before the end of December, and the company axed a 30-month-old policy that sought to limit spending within the clean energy division to 10 per cent of earnings generated by the iron ore division.
The axing of the policy came as spending on clean energy is expected to exceed 10 per cent of iron ore earnings this year.

https://www.afr.com/companies/mining/forrest-flags-lower-returns-for-green-projects-as-mining-boss-exits-20230828-p5e03v
 

According to The Australian Financial Review, global energy giant BP is optimistic it can export green hydrogen to Europe and Japan by the end of the decade from a repurposed, 70-year-old oil refinery south of Perth.
Having completed a study into the feasibility of developing a large-scale energy hub in Kwinana, the company is now eyeing the production of green hydrogen for domestic use by 2026 and potentially exporting the fuel before 2030.
BP hydrogen business development director Justin Nash said the company’s initial priority was servicing the local market, the WA green hydrogen project was already garnering interest from Europe and Japan.

https://www.afr.com/companies/energy/bp-eyes-european-japanese-markets-with-perth-green-hydrogen-project-20230824-p5dz2o
 

According to The Australian Financial Review, the Japanese backers of a controversial project to convert Victoria’s brown coal into liquid hydrogen for export are warning that the $3 billion development will not go ahead without clearer signs of support from the state and federal government.
The Albanese government’s decision to rule out fossil-fuel-based projects from its $2 billion Hydrogen Headstart funding scheme has intensified worries voiced this year by Kawasaki Heavy Industries and others involved in the project that the policy settings around carbon capture and storage in particular are not supportive.
The Japanese government – through its Green Innovation Fund – agreed this year to allocate about $2.35 billion of funding to the Hydrogen Energy Supply Chain project that will use carbon capture and storage to help convert the coal into hydrogen that could be shipped to Japan.
But the funds will only be disbursed when milestones have been reached, and Yuko Fukuma at Kawasaki’s Japan Suiso Energy, the group leading the development, said that a final decision on the next phase – a $3 billion commercial demonstration project – required “consistency in messaging” from governments to give the backers confidence to move forward.

https://www.afr.com/companies/energy/all-options-needed-on-hydrogen-japan-ramps-up-push-on-ccs-20230803-p5dtoi
 

According to The Australian Financial Review, two major Japanese investors have struck a $US500 million ($763 million) deal to buy into Woodside Energy’s $16.5 billion Scarborough LNG project in Western Australia, shrugging off warnings from green groups about the environmental and commercial risks involved with the project.
The deal with Sojitz Corporation and Sumitomo Corporation also runs counter to warnings that Japanese buyers have lost confidence in Australia as a long-term supplier of LNG after a raft of policy measures against the sector under the Albanese government that cast doubt over future supply volumes.
Under the accord announced on Tuesday, the two diversified trading giants, equal partners in the Japan LNG venture, will buy a 10 per cent stake in the Scarborough gas field and they have signed up for LNG cargoes. They have also agreed to collaborate with Perth-based Woodside on clean energy ventures such as hydrogen and carbon capture and storage.

https://www.afr.com/companies/energy/woodside-signs-up-japan-for-16-5b-lng-project-20230808-p5duts
 

According to The Australian Financial Review, Australia’s reigning cotton grower of the year sees a European Union crackdown on the textile industry’s carbon footprint as a money-making opportunity and is moving to build a renewable ammonia and green hydrogen plant on one of his farms with help from the NSW government.
David Statham’s Sundown Pastoral has a business model that relies on a dash of rare earths, its own solar farm and a leap into producing green hydrogen to power farm machinery, and green ammonia for fertiliser.
The NSW government has handed Sundown and privately owned Hiringa Energy nearly $36 million to help build a renewable ammonia and green hydrogen plant on a Sundown property west of Moree, in northern NSW.

https://www.afr.com/companies/agriculture/top-farmer-cottons-on-with-green-hydrogen-rare-earths-20230802-p5dt5o
 

According to The Australian Financial Review, homegrown self-tanner and skincare brand Bondi Sands has been offloaded to Japan’s chemical and beauty giant Kao Corporation in a cash deal estimated to be worth $450 million.
The Tokyo-listed Kao owns skincare brands Bioré and Jergens, salon haircare brands Oribe and KMS, and fragrance brand Molton Brown.
Mr Wilson said the integration of Kao’s scientific and technological resources was “an unparalleled opportunity” to grow Bondi Sands.

https://www.afr.com/companies/retail/sunny-days-bondi-sands-offloaded-to-japan-s-kao-for-450m-20230731-p5dspi
 

According to The Australian Financial Review, French renewables and storage developer Neoen has decided to increase the size of its large battery under construction in Queensland by 35 per cent in a further sign of the surge of investment in capacity that supports the push to weather-dependent wind and solar.
The Western Downs battery in Queensland will now be built to a capacity of 270 megawatts of power and 540 megawatt-hours of storage, meaning the plant will be able to supply at full capacity for two hours.

https://www.afr.com/companies/energy/qld-battery-to-be-upsized-as-storage-investments-soar-20230726-p5dr9s