Beca, Arup and Wood appointed as Technical Advisors to Southern Green Hydrogen project

The development of the world’s largest green hydrogen production plant in Southland has moved a step closer with the recent appointment of consultants Beca, Arup and Wood as Technical Advisors for the initial project development stages of the project.

Southern Green Hydrogen is a joint project by Meridian Energy and Contact Energy, to evaluate the opportunity to produce green hydrogen in Southland, New Zealand. Producing green hydrogen at scale in New Zealand is a critical step to reducing the country’s reliance on imported fossil fuels and supporting its transition to a low carbon economy. This development presents a substantial export opportunity that has the potential to place New Zealand as a world leader in the emerging Green Hydrogen economy.

Meridian Energy Chief Executive Neal Barclay says a project of this scale and significance requires the smartest and most skilled technical partners in the country.

“By drawing on the combined experience and knowledge of Beca, Arup and Wood, we can move forward confidently and ensure that Southern Green Hydrogen delivers strong economic and sustainability benefits for New Zealanders.

“This team brings strong local knowledge and valuable global experience from green hydrogen projects overseas. We’re excited about the contribution they’ll make to Southern Green Hydrogen.”

As Technical Advisors, the team will be supporting Southern Green Hydrogen in identifying opportunities and risks associated with the project and providing technical solutions that meet the project objectives. Key to this is a strong and collaborative relationship where the focus is on the right result for the Southern Green Hydrogen project.

The importance of this being a New Zealand-led project is ideally suited to the consultant team. Arup, Beca and Wood all have interests in New Zealand and a strong link with local communities, as well as bringing global experience not available in New Zealand. Identifying and developing a solution that not only meets the environmental goals of stakeholders but minimises the impact on the environment and local communities is a key objective of the team.

Greg Lowe, Beca’s CEO is a strong advocate for the development of a green hydrogen economy. “Beca is already supporting several private and public sector initiatives and working with local authorities that are piloting the use of integrated green hydrogen solutions. We see Southern Green Hydrogen as a great opportunity to be involved in a long-term New Zealand based significant project and it aligns strongly with our commitment to sustainability goals.”

Arup is already heavily involved in several Green Hydrogen projects in Australia and globally. Arup’s Global Hydrogen Leader Patrick Gorr said: “Southern Green Hydrogen has the potential to underpin a valuable export industry for New Zealand, while helping to decarbonise its local energy future. Our teams bring global experience and local insights to this collaboration: we are committed to sustainable development and this project, which is both ambitious and exciting, represents a step change in leading future decarbonised fuels in the region.”

Wood brings substantial global heavy industrial engineering, operational, project delivery and maintenance experience to the team, including hydrogen (grey, blue, green and bio) and ammonia production lifecycle management. Josh Carmichael, Wood Global VP Hydrogen, “Technical Advisory support from Wood supports the solid technical and commercial baseline work by Southern Green Hydrogen that provides the foundation and framework to accelerate the New Zealand market transition to hydrogen and low emission energy products.” 

As the project develops, the requirements of the Beca Arup Wood team will evolve to suit the needs of the project. Having access to a large and flexible team brings experience in large scale development and Green Hydrogen, and provides Southern Green Hydrogen with the resources they need when they need them on a flexible basis.

If you’d like to pursue a Green Hydrogen project yourself, Beca can make it happen – from business case development, feasibility studies, decarbonisation planning through to project implementation. Contact us today to see how we can help!