Posted on 05 Feb 2025
London-based oil and gas giant bp has shelved plans to develop a hydrogen and renewable fuels plant at its former Kwinana refinery in Western Australia, according to local media.
bp informed employees and contractors of the decision last week, with some staff to be made redundant, Boiling Cold reported, citing people familiar with the matter.
The so-called Kwinana Energy Hub aimed to develop the H2Kwinana plant, with 100 megawatts of electrolyser capacity. The hydrogen from the project was planned to be used to decarbonise bp’s site operations, plus exports. The hub also planned to construct a new biorefinery – Kwinana Renewable Fuels – to produce sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) and hydrogenated vegetable oil (HVO).
H2Kwinana entered the front-end engineering and design (FEED) stage in November 2023, as Kallanish Power Materials previously reported. Construction was expected to be completed in mid-2027.
bp told The West Australian that it will now “rephase” the Kwinana Renewable Fuels plant. However, the status of H2Kwinana was not revealed.
“Over the last three years we have made significant progress to develop bp’s renewable fuels and hydrogen projects at our Kwinana Energy Hub,” a spokesman told the local newspaper. “While bioenergy remains a core part of bp’s strategy, bp has decided to rephase the Kwinana Renewable Fuels project. This involves adjusting the pace of delivery with a focus on improving capital efficiency and better alignment with government policies.”
Last year, the oil giant stopped the development of 18 early-stage hydrogen projects to “focus on delivering the highest value projects.”
Kallanish is awaiting a response from bp.
The news comes on the heels of the Queensland state government halting further funding for a 2.88 gigawatt (GW) green hydrogen project in Gladstone.
Source:Kallanish Power Materials