- Meridian Energy has chosen the Australian resource firm Woodside Energy as its preferred partner to develop a green hydrogen project in Southland.
- Woodside brings the technical skill and operations experience to develop this project at a pace to meet customer demand for hydrogen, which we expect to grow in the energy transition.
Meridian Energy selected an Australian resource firm, Woodside Energy, as its preferred partner to develop a green hydrogen project in Southland. Woodside was shortlisted, along with Fortescue Future Industries, to put forward proposals for large-scale hydrogen and ammonia production using renewable energy.
Neal Barclay, Meridian’s chief executive, said it selected Woodside because of its established track record, saying that “In addition to its operational and marketing expertise, Woodside has demonstrated climate change ambitions, and as we are a 100 per cent renewable energy company and committed to sustainability, that was a key focus for us in selecting a partner. Also, “Woodside chief executive Meg O’Neill said the project was right for the time. In addition, “Woodside brings the technical skill and operations experience to develop this project at a pace to meet customer demand for hydrogen, which we expect to grow in the energy transition”.
Barclay said the consortium had consulted with Ngāi Tahu and would remain closely in touch to ensure the project was consistent with iwi values and interests with expectations of broad future economic gains. In addition, Barclay said, “We believe a large-scale hydrogen and ammonia facility in Southland, focused on the export market, will accelerate the development of a domestic hydrogen economy and strengthen New Zealand’s platform to contributing to decarbonising our transport and industrial sectors.”