Big players seek hydrogen partnerships

The P word – partnership – was in vogue on day two of the Australian Natural Hydrogen Conference as the big international players came to the podium.

Key speakers from two of the leaders in the natural hydrogen field, US-based Koloma and Singapore-based Helios Aragon, made it clear they were open to working closer with their Australian counterparts.

Koloma, a private company which has built a US$350 million exploration kitty through investors like Microsoft founder Bill Gates, was represented by chief technical officer Tom Darrah.

The last line of his presentation said: If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.

“I know we (Koloma) were stealthy for a long time, but I hope this is a statement that shows we are looking to develop the right partnerships,” Mr Darrah said.

Koloma's chief technical officer Tom Darrah was one of the keynote speakers on day two.

Helios Aragon’s senior geological adviser, Julie Daws, echoed the partnership theme when she revealed the company was looking at opportunities in Australia and South-East Asia.

The Singapore-based Helios has its main natural hydrogen target in Spain, but has assets in Poland,  the UK and formed a JV in Oman recently.

Koloma sees a seven-times increase in hydrogen markets over the next 30 years and Mr Darrah revealed they had drilled 10 wells so far.

Koloma’s learnings had pointers for exploration here. For instance, several different processes can create natural hydrogen, and the carbon contained in each was different.

“If you’re thinking about hydrogen today only in terms of cost of hydrogen, I would encourage you to think about the carbon intensity – that’s an advantage in the markets,” he said.

“Some of the ones (formation methods) talked about this week …. right now that hydrogen is disadvantaged by its carbon score.”

Ms Daws revealed Helios were concentrating their exploration on depths of deeper than 2.5km, because the pressures there would allow the gas to flow easier.

She was impressed by South Australian government legislative changes allowing hydrogen exploration.

“Governments should avoid rent seeking until resources are proven and consideration given to reduced tax take in early years of production.”

She also believed hydrogen companies should steer clear of production subsidies and seek R&D and new technology funding instead. That would set it apart from costly green hydrogen.

“The industry awaits a game changer, a sizeable discovery with commercial flow rates. Such an event should see a major re-rating of the industry,” her presentation said.

More than 40 of the world-leading natural hydrogen scientific community presented over the two days and Natural Hydrogen Association of Australia chair Neil McDonald said the sharing of information was heartening to see.

“Everyone has walked away with way more knowledge than when they started. We’re a small group of pioneers and we are all working together promoting our cause and sharing learnings,” he said.

He closed the conference by announcing it would be repeated next year, at a date to be confirmed.

Julie Daws, senior geological adviser from Helios Aragon, gave an insightful presentation on the European experience.

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