Vast Renewables Limited (Nasdaq: VSTE), a renewable energy company specialising in concentrated solar thermal power (CSP), has received planning consent for its Solar Methanol 1 (SM1) project in Port Augusta, South Australia.
The groundbreaking project aims to produce up to 7,500 tonnes of green methanol annually, helping decarbonise the global maritime industry.
SM1 is a CSP-powered reference plant designed to produce green fuels, specifically methanol, one of the most versatile hydrogen derivatives.
If produced using Vast’s CSP technology, green methanol has the potential to decarbonise shipping and is already being used to power major container vessels.
The project will combine proven technologies to produce green methanol: a Leilac calcination plant from Australian technology company Calix to capture carbon dioxide unavoidably produced in cement and lime manufacturing, an electrolysis plant to produce hydrogen, and a methanol plant.
Vast is co-developing SM1 with global energy company Mabanaft GmbH & Co. KG.
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 for green fuel production.
In February, Vast and its project partners announced the signing of funding agreements for SM1, securing up to $19.48 million from the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) and up to €12.4 million from Projektträger Jülich (PtJ), a partner of the public sector in Germany in science, industry, and politics.
The PtJ 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 a significant step forward as the SM1 project moves towards a final investment decision.
Craig Wood, CEO of Vast, emphasised the importance of this milestone for Port Augusta and South Australia, stating that SM1 will produce low-cost green fuels, which can play a crucial role in decarbonising the global maritime industry.
Calix CEO and Managing Director Phil Hodgson highlighted the exciting potential of capturing and using unavoidable emissions from cement and lime to help decarbonise multiple hard-to-abate industries.
Volker Ebeling, Senior Vice President of New Energy, Supply & Infrastructure at Mabanaft, expressed optimism for larger-scale projects to be developed, serving other markets, including Europe, after evaluating the effectiveness of SM1.
The SM1 project supports South Australia’s push to develop a domestic hydrogen industry and could create an important pathway for scalable green fuel production, not dependent on limited biomass resources.
