ARENA funds renewable methane demo plant

A $2.2 million project will see construction of a demonstration renewable methane plant to assess the benefits of using methane to ‘green’ Australia’s gas networks.

The Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) has announced $1.1 million in funding to APA Group to build the demonstration plant at the latter’s Wallumbilla Gas hub in Queensland, with the aim of generating cost and technical data to be used to assess the feasibility of a larger, commercial-scale, renewable methane plant.

It is expected that the ‘power to gas’ demonstration plant will produce approximately 620 kg of hydrogen per year, converting it into 74 GJ of methane that can then be injected into APA’s natural gas pipelines across the East Coast Gas Grid.

Renewable methane could enable the decarbonisation of Australia’s existing gas infrastructure, including gas transmission and distribution networks and export supply chains.

The renewable methane process involves the production of renewable hydrogen from an anion exchange membrane (AEM) electrolyser. The electrolyser uses water extracted from the atmosphere and is powered by solar PV. The hydrogen produced is then converted to methane by reaction with carbon dioxide, which is also extracted directly from the atmosphere.

“Renewable methane is in effect indistinguishable from the methane that currently fills our natural gas pipelines,” ARENA CEO Darren Miller said.

“The gas network is expected to play a key role in supporting the decarbonisation of Australia’s energy system.

“This project will demonstrate the viability of producing renewable methane from solar power. Through a new and innovative approach, the project will capture moisture in the air to produce renewable hydrogen as a precursor to renewable methane.

“At scale, renewable methane has the potential to be a significant source of Australia’s future natural gas requirements all through the deployment of solar energy and capturing the water from the atmosphere. Renewable methane is compatible with Australia’s developing hydrogen sector in that known technologies can convert methane to hydrogen and vice versa,” he said.

APA Group’s CEO and Managing Director, Rob Wheals, said, “ARENA’s support means we can work to understand the costs and benefits of generating renewable methane for use in the existing East Coast Gas Grid. This is a great example of government support for innovation in the Australian energy industry. APA is excited about its part in this process.

“We know the science of producing methane. This unique project is the first step in testing whether it is possible on an industrial scale to create methane using solar-generated electricity, water and CO₂ from the atmosphere.

“With this project we’re aiming to determine whether this carbon-neutral process might be part of the green energy solution of the future, and if our pipelines can be used to transport pure renewable energy domestically or to be exported,” Wheals said.

Image credit: ©stock.adobe.com/au/malp