Viva unveils hydrogen, solar and gas projects

GEELONG’S Viva Energy has unveiled a series of energy projects at its Corio facility including a hydrogen and electric refuelling station for heavy vehicles, a 15-20 megawatt solar farm and the public exhibition of an Environmental Effects Statement (EES) for its proposed gas import facility.

Viva expects its New Energy Service Station adjacent to the refinery will be functioning by late 2023 and will service at least 15 hydrogen-powered heavy vehicles within the first two years of operations at the site.

The first seven vehicles will be purchased and deployed by Geelong-based partners including Toll Group, Cleanaway, ComfortdelGro Corporate Australia (CDC) and Barwon Water.

CDC plans to have two hydrogen powered buses in Geelong city, manufactured and delivered by Australian-based manufacturer Aluminium Revolutionary Chassis Company (ARCC), with other vehicles to be delivered by Hyzon Motors out of Europe and Australia.

Cleanaway will operate hydrogen powered waste pick-up trucks and Barwon Water will have similarly fuelled vehicles collecting organic waste for recycling.

This initial service station is the first step in Viva’s longer-term plans to establish a nationwide refuelling network at its existing service stations along major commercial road transport routes between Melbourne and Sydney, and onto Brisbane.

The solar farm to be built on the northern end of its Corio site is predicted to contribute around 10 per cent of the refinery’s energy requirements, adding to the roughly 30 per cent of renewable power already feeding the site from the Acciona’s Mt Gellibrand Wind Farm in Colac.

“Viva Energy supports action to address climate change, and we are looking for every opportunity to reduce our own emissions, develop new fuels and introduce renewable, zero emission energy sources like hydrogen and solar,” Viva Energy CEO Scott Wyatt said.

“Our vision is for the site to manufacture and deliver traditional fuels, as well as offering transitional and alternative energies, playing an important role in providing energy security now and into the future.”

The gas terminal is the more controversial of Viva’s energy projects and the public now has a 30-day EES exhibition period to comment on plans to extend Refinery Pier, construct a floating gas terminal, treatment facility and 7km pipeline at Corio.

Total project costs for the service station, electrolyser and hydrogen vehicles is expected to be approximately $43.3 million, with funding contributions of almost $23 million from the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA), $1 million from the Victorian Government, $11 million from Viva and a further $8.5 million from project partners.

The $20 million solar farm is a stand-along project funded by Viva.

The announcements are in stark contrast to warnings from the fuel supplier two years ago that it was haemorrhaging cash and at risk of closure.

Last month Viva informed the Australian Stock Exchange its refining business had enabled it to climb out of the red, going from a loss of $127.9 million in 2020, to a $103.4 million profit in 2021, a $231.3 million turnaround.

The recovery has been aided by the federal government’s fuel security package (FSP) announced last year, that included a series of income streams to Australia’s two remaining producers, Viva in Geelong and Ampol in Brisbane.

In the ASX announcement Viva listed income of $53 million under the federal government’s Temporary Refining Production Payment (TRPP) and Federal Security Services Payment (FSSP) programs, $2.5 milion in JobKeeper support and a separate grant of $33.3 million from the Commonwealth to construct an additional 90 million litres of diesel storage to meet Minimum Stockholding Obligations.