Energy Estate, Eurus Energy and Hunter Hydrogen Network (H2N) have signed a Heads of Agreement document with Biochem USA to establish a biorefinery in Newcastle.
Biochem USA is a subsidiary of Petron Scientech, a leader in renewable green chemical initiatives with projects in the US, Canada, Europe and Africa.
Under the agreement, the parties will jointly develop Hunter NuBio, a large-scale and integrated animal feed nutrients and biorefinery project.
Hunter NuBio will produce high grade protein, high value animal feed supplements for domestic and export markets and process the waste sugars and starches into a range of sustainable products including bioethanol, e-methanol and sustainable aviation fuel.
"Locating our first project in the Hunter region makes perfect sense as we can benefit from the excellent rail and port infrastructure and deliver our sustainable products more efficiently to our customers," Petron Scientech chief executive Yogi Sarin said.
"We had the pleasure of visiting the Port of Newcastle earlier this year and we are excited about the opportunity to develop a large-scale nutrient and biorefinery project on an accelerated timescale, leveraging off the strong support from Government and local stakeholders and focus on the Towards Net Zero Mission."
Energy Estate chief projects officer Simon Currie said the partnership with Petron would allow H2N to provide green hydrogen to the biorefinery and create sustainable biofuels for the domestic and global shipping and aviation industries.
Eurus Energy manager Yoshiki Ohkubo said the project confirmed the potential of green hydrogen in the Hunter Region.
"The partnership with Petron to codevelop Hunter NuBio confirms the scale and immediacy of the opportunities to deliver a green hydrogen industry in the Hunter region. As Japan's leading renewable energy developer we are proud to be participating in a landmark project of this nature with a leading global player."
The Hunter NuBio project will be developed in a location in the wider port precinct to complement the Clean Energy Precinct.
