German ambassador explores the Pilbara’s hydrogen potential
Karratha played host to a special guest last week when Germany’s ambassador to Australia came to town to discuss climate change and renewable energy.
Dr Anna Prinz and her delegation were on a fact-finding mission to gain an understanding of hydrogen in the Pilbara.
She spent a full day in the Karratha area, starting with a visit to Murujuga National Park and meetings with representatives from Woodside, Yara and the City of Karratha.
Dr Prinz believes climate change is one of the greatest issues facing our planet and said a renewable hydrogen partnership between the two countries could be part of the solution.
“We have to change our industry and our way of producing energy,” she said.
“We’re really surprised by all the development going on with renewable hydrogen here, so if Australia is advancing in this field, that will help Germany to produce the right technologies so we can move forward together.”
Woodside general manager hydrogen Shannon O’Rourke hosted the German delegation at the North West Shelf Project Visitors Centre, where they discussed potential hydrogen export opportunities and Woodside’s current LNG supply agreements with two German companies.
“It was great to share with the German ambassador how we view hydrogen production and export as a potential adjacent activity to our core LNG business,” he said.
Yara general manager Chris Rijksen said the meeting with the ambassador was an opportunity to present the company’s project.
“We had a discussion around the development of a renewable hydrogen economy in general and how Germany and WA can help each other to make it happen,” he said.
The ambassador hopes to return to Karratha with another delegation in a few months to continue discussions.
The ambassador’s visit was organised and sponsored by the Pilbara Development Commission.
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