Australia’s Lion Energy has announced a partnership with DGA, a subsidiary of Mitsubishi Corporation, and Samsung C&T to develop a green hydrogen hub at the Port of Brisbane.

The project will see the production of more than 300 tonnes of hydrogen per year. It will be used to power heavy vehicles, along with Brisbane’s bus network.

DGA and Samsung C&T will initially pay a total of A$3.7 million to Lion for historical and ongoing pre-construction costs. In return, DGA and Samsung C&T will each become entitled to 25% interest in the project.

Lion had already obtained government approvals for the project and signed a 10+ years lease with Port of Brisbane Pty Ltd.

The company is also planning to build similar stations in Sydney and Melbourne.

“We are delighted to partner with DGA and Samsung, who bring to the project a wealth of experience in their respective fields,” said Tom Soulsby, executive chairman of Lion Energy.

“Their interest reflects a confidence not only in the significant potential for green hydrogen in Australia but also in Lion’s capabilities.

“For Lion, the transaction results in the Project being funded and will allow us to allocate existing and future capital for new projects.”

Soulsby said that as the project has developed, hydrogen off take interest has followed.

“We are now quite confident that our initial markets for our green hydrogen production will be the displacement of grey hydrogen to green hydrogen for industrial customers, fuel cell gensets (which displace oversized and inefficient diesel gensets at construction, mining and event sites) and heavy mobility players such as bus operators and truck fleet managers,” he said.

“We expect to update the market on offtake agreements in Q3 2024.”