Vast (Vast Renewables Limited) has received planning consent for Solar Methanol 1 (SM1), a CSP-powered reference plant that will produce green fuels. SM1 will be located in Port Augusta, South Australia and will have the capacity to produce 7,500 tonnes per annum of green methanol, one of the most versatile hydrogen derivatives which, if produced using Vast?s CSP technology, has the potential to decarbonise shipping and is already being used to power major container vessels. Vast is co-developing SM1 with global energy company Mabanaft GmbH & Co.

KG (Mabanaft). The project will combine proven technologies to produce green methanol: a Leilac calcination plant from fellow Australian technology company Calix to capture carbon dioxide unavoidably produced in the making of cement and lime; an electrolysis plant to produce hydrogen; and a methanol plant. The project supports South Australia?s push to develop a domestic hydrogen industry and, if successful, could create an important pathway for scalable green fuel production that is not dependent on limited biomass resources.

The project will be powered by VS1, a co-located 30 MW /288 MWh CSP plant, which will utilise Vast?s CSP v3.0 technology to provide renewable heat and renewable electricity to produce green fuels. In February, Vast and its project partners announced the signing of funding agreements for SM1 for up to AUD $19.48 million from the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA). Additional funding of up to EUR 12.4 million has been granted to project partner Mabanaft by Projektträger Jülich (PtJ).

PtJ is a partner of the public sector in Germany in science, industry and politics. That funding is part of HyGATE, a collaboration between the Australian and German governments to support real-world pilot, trial and demonstration projects along the hydrogen supply chain. The planning consent is an important step forward as the SM1 project moves towards final investment decision.