In November 2021 Hexagon and FRV Australia collaborated as consortium partners on an AusIndustry grant application in relation to a Middle Arm, Darwin, Hydrogen Hub Feasibility Study.  The application was made under the “Activating a Regional Hydrogen Industry – Clean Hydrogen Industrial Hubs: Hub Development and Design program” and led to this MoU and further collaborations.

Both Hexagon and FRV Australia are already progressing individual clean hydrogen and renewable energy projects at or near Middle Arm, Darwin, each of which are fully funded in terms of pre-feasibility studies. FRV Australia has also secured funding for further studies and the construction stage for its hydrogen and renewable energy project.

Hexagon is currently in the final stages of a Pre-Feasibility Study (PFS) on its Northern Territory (NT) Hydrogen project (formally called Pedirka Project).  The PFS is scheduled for completion by 28 February 2022 (HXG ASX Announcement: 22 December 2021). The PFS centres on decarbonised (zero net carbon emission) ammonia production (as a hydrogen carrier), through hydrocarbon-based hydrogen production with CCS.  The project is targeting production of up to 1.6 million tonnes per annum (t.p.a.) of ammonia or 300,000 t.p.a. hydrogen equivalent. The Middle Arm Sustainable Development Precinct at the Port of Darwin is expected to have  a number of critical clean hydrogen project and hub components such as access to established, large scale CO₂ geo-sequestration infrastructure and reservoirs (Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS)) and port (export) infrastructure.

Collaboration between FRV Australia and Hexagon under the MoU announced today could provide Hexagon access to FRV Australia’s mix of renewable energy products to supply the power required for Hexagon’s proposed hydrogen (clean Ammonia) production plant.  This would see less CO₂ generated from Hexagon’s blue hydrogen production facilities, requiring less CCS, therefore lowering overall production costs for Hexagon’s projects.

FRV Australia is indirectly owned 51% by Fotowatio Renewable Ventures S.L. (FRV) and 49% by OMERS, one of Canada’s largest defined benefit pension plans.

Globally, FRV and its affiliated companies have installed 2GW of renewable energy generation with another 560MW under construction, with several green hydrogen projects constructed and in operation abroad, ranging from <1MW to 20MW in size.

FRV Australia has successfully developed nine solar farms in Australia that are currently producing a combined total of [781MW] of electricity sold into the National Electricity Market (NEM) and is currently developing additional projects within the Northern Territory including its 29MW Berrimah Solar Farm where installation of an electrolyser is under assessment. FRV Australia’s team includes green hydrogen plant design and equipment supply specialists, solar engineer professionals, construction and project management professionals and commercial analysts as well as a dedicated asset management team.

The next steps will be to identify and scope specific hydrogen projects to potentially move to conditional Heads of Agreement and onto binding commercial agreements.

Hexagon is a future energy materials company focussed on the clean energy transition of which hydrogen is a cornerstone.  In addition to the NT Hydrogen and WA Hydrogen projects Hexagon holds highly prospective assets including the McIntosh Nickel-Copper, PGE Graphite Project and the Halls Creek Gold and Base Metals Project.

The Company’s vision for its Australian hydrogen business is to deliver clean hydrogen in the most economical form into export and domestic markets at scale over the coming four years. This non-binding MoU with FRV has the potential to deliver large quantities of low-cost renewable energy for use in hydrogen production supporting delivery into this vision.

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Fotowatio Renewable Ventures Australia along with other organisers of a ‘Hands on Trades Day’ for North East Victoria will proceed with plans to promote career pathways for students and build a skilled, innovative and local workforce in the region thanks to a Community Grant from the Winton Solar Farm.

This annual event aims to support high school students from Benalla, Mansfield and Wangaratta Shires to consider existing and new trades – including solar engineering and management, an industry that has seen recent growth with several new solar farms in the area. Local students completing Structured Workplace Learning placements form part of the event organising committee and hospitality teams and are involved in co-designing the event.

This year’s Hands on Trades career expo will go ahead on Thursday 5 May. Local students are encouraged to register to attend. Four other community groups were recently awarded a share of the Solar Farm’s second annual $35,000 Community Grant Program.

Winners of this year’s Winton Community Grants and funded projects are:

• Benalla Hockey Club to fund new portable shade gazebos of tournaments.
• Winton Primary School sustainable outdoor kitchen garden.
• Benalla Sustainable Future Group to install new solar panels at Bernard Briggs Pre-school.
• NE Tracks for their ACRE youth entrepreneurship program and annual secondary school student ‘Hands On Trades Day’ careers event.
• Glenrowan Primary School to upgrade their school cooking learning classroom.

I am thrilled to see another round of strong applications and initiatives come through the Community Grants Fund. The Winton, Benalla and surrounding areas are home to some creative thinkers, and we are excited to see another round of innovative projects come through. These community grants are an opportunity to kick start some exciting projects, and deliver meaningful investment for the local community.

Winton Solar Farm 85MW is approaching its first full year of operations following completion of construction earlier in 2021. Output from the solar farm to date has been impressive. It is expected to generate around 210,000 MWh/Year – enough clean energy for 52,000 homes.

In a further development, Winton Solar Farm has also reached mutual agreement with a project neighbour to introduce sheep to the solar site. Just under 600 are currently grazing the site, helping to maintain grass levels around the solar farm and avoiding use of mechanical and chemical weed management.

Near neighbour, Tony Mort, stated: “The initiative is a practical and sustainable use of the project site. It’s great to see the Winton Solar Farm thinking about how they can work with nearby neighbours to share their land, I’m happy I can contribute to a greater understanding of how agriculture can work in sync with solar farms – it’s a sensible way to approach land use and I hope we see more of this in the future”.

To date, Winton Solar Farm has provided $120,000 to the local community. This includes a major partnership with the Regent Honeyeater Project to plant an additional eleven hectares of native vegetation and improve critical biodiversity corridors in the region. Community Grants will be open for applications again in late 2022.

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Fotowatio Renewable Ventures (FRV), a leading global developer of renewable utility-scale projects, has been awarded support of a 85 MW AC solar project in the Victorian Renewable Energy 2017 Reverse Auction Scheme aimed at supporting the achievement of the Victorian Renewable Energy Targets (VRET).

With a surface of approximately 250 Ha, the 85 MW AC Winton Solar Farm, located near Benalla in the state of Victoria, has been awarded a ‘Support Agreement’ from the state to ensure revenue certainty for the project. Thanks to this support, Winton Solar Farm will be able to start construction operations in Q1 2019 and, once operational it will supply enough electricity to power about 50,000 Victorian homes and allow the annual reduction of about 150,000 tons of CO2.

The solar farm will create job opportunities during its construction and operation phases. It is estimated that around 150 workers will be required to build the plant. The development of the project represents a positive diversification of the local economy since it will bring investment to the area as well as deliver additional indirect economic opportunities for local businesses.
The Winton Solar Farm project is FRV’s fifth large scale photovoltaic project in Australia, country in which the company has presence since 2010. Winton Solar Farm – along with FRV’s other large-scale solar developments installed or under construction, will generate around 365 MW AC of clean energy capacity bringing the total value of FRV’s solar investments in the Australian renewable energy sector to around A$850 million.

Carlo Frigerio, FRV Managing Director Australia highlighted: “FRV has a firm commitment to Victoria’s renewable energy targets. We are working to ensure that at least 25 per cent of the State’s electricity generation comes from renewable energy sources by 2020, rising to 40 per cent of the generation by 2025. For this reason, we will continue promoting the generation of clean and affordable energy in the country as well as creating local employment and actions that contribute positively to the country’s social development”.

Daniel Sagi-Vela, CEO of FRV confirmed FRV’s plans to “continue leading the diversification of energy production in Australia”. In this sense, Sagi-Vela affirms that “the Victorian renewable energy policy is key to the emergence of a stronger, more resilient solar generation market in Australia”.

Apart from Winton Solar Farm, the company has developed and built the operational plants of Royalla (20 MW AC) in the Australian Capital Territory, Moree (56 MW AC) in New South Wales and Clare (100 MW AC) in Queensland. In addition FRV is about to finish the construction of the Lilyvale solar plant (100 MW AC) in Queensland.

Strengthening local community

In line with Victorian Government’s goal to strengthen community support of renewable energy projects, FRV has designed a Community Engagement and Social Benefit Sharing Plan. This plan aims to meet the needs of the local community and includes a two year pilot partnership with the Regent Honeyeater Project, one of the most active volunteer conservation projects in Australia.
It also includes the development of a local employment and procurement program, which will help ensure that the highest number of suitably-qualified local candidates are available for ongoing positions at the Winton Solar Farm. In addition, FRV is currently exploring options to support Benalla Sustainable Futures Group, a local volunteer organization, helping to deliver key aspects of their three-point plan to position Benalla as one of the first ‘zero net energy’ towns.

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