Australia’s Provaris partners with Uniper for hydrogen supply

ASX-LISTED Provaris and Norwegian Hydrogen are partnering with German multinational Uniper in the supply of green hydrogen from the Nordics to Germany using Provaris’ H2Neo carriers.

The companies announced a memorandum of understanding on Tuesday (6 August) which aims to strengthen co-operation in developing hydrogen supply chains from Norway and other Nordic countries.

Provaris’ compressed hydrogen H2Neo carriers would deliver the hydrogen to import locations in north-western Europe.

The parties plan to explore the potential for Uniper to off-take RFNBO1 compliant hydrogen, which would be produced by Norwegian Hydrogen and transported and stored using the H2Neo carriers and Provaris’ H2Leo storage barges.

“We are thrilled to bring our partnerships with Uniper and Norwegian Hydrogen together,” Provaris managing director and CEO Martin Carolan said.

“This collaboration highlights the business case for compression in becoming a preferred alternative for a cost competitive solution to supply RFNBO compliant hydrogen, offering both capital and energy efficiency for regional hydrogen supply.”

And Norwegian Hydrogen CEO Jens Berge said the company is still committed to the relationship it has had with Provaris since 2022.

“I cannot think of a better offtake partner than Uniper to support the development of our joint projects,” he said.

“This new agreement is positive for all the three parties involved, and I am confident that it will bring strong and tangible results.”

Provaris and Norwegian Hydrogen extended their partnership in April this year to accelerate the development of new hydrogen export sites across the Nordic region.

Building on the successful pre-development activities of the FjordH2 project in Norway, the new export projects would be strategically located in areas with strong grid connections and reliable power supplies.

Provaris said these hydrogen production and export facilities and transportation of compressed hydrogen using its H2Neo carriers would provide cost-competitive gaseous hydrogen supply to Europe.