E-fuels company HIF (Highly Innovative Fuels) Global has begun the development of Australia’s first large-scale, carbon-neutral eFuels production facility in Tasmania. HIF Asia Pacific, a wholly owned subsidiary of HIF Global, filed a Notice of Intent (NoI) with the Tasmanian Environment Protection Authority (EPA) seeking approval for the facility, which will be located in north-west Tasmania.

Our global plan is to produce over 8 billion liters a year of carbon-neutral eFuels—enough to decarbonize 5 million vehicles. Australia represents our third decarbonization hub around the world. Australia has exceptional renewable energy resources that can be transformed into liquid fuels and used in existing engines. Today, we begin the first step in Tasmania to produce hydrogen from renewable energy, capture carbon dioxide from a biogenic source and produce highly competitive eFuels that will be the carbon-neutral energy of tomorrow.

—Cesar Norton, President and CEO of HIF Global

At full operations, the HIF Tasmania facility is expected to produce up to 100 million liters per year of carbon-neutral eFuels, reducing global CO₂ emissions by approximately 260,000 tons per year, the equivalent of decarbonizing 52,000 cars on the road today. We expect to begin construction in 2024, prioritizing local employment and technology. We look forward to working with our Australian partners as we develop this facility, which will help revolutionize the decarbonization of global transportation.

—HIF Asia Pacific CEO Ignacio Hernandez

The HIF Tasmania Carbon Neutral eFuel Facility will be located approximately 30 km south of Burnie in a region of northwest Tasmania known as Surrey Hills. The entire site is approximately 40 hectares in size; however, production facilities and storage will occupy roughly half of this area. It is wholly situated within a privately owned forestry plantation. Wood residue from existing forestry activities will provide the CO₂ and water required annually for the process.

With 250 megawatts of electrolyzer capacity and at least 40 years of operating life, the facility design is similar to other eFuels facilities in Chile and the United States that HIF Global is preparing for construction in 2023. The HIF Tasmania facility has been designed to be emissions-free, with the water for electrolysis primarily extracted from biowaste.

HIF Chile, HIF USA, HIF Asia Pacific, and HIF EMEA are wholly owned subsidiaries of HIF Global. HIF Chile is currently constructing the Haru Oni Demonstration Facility in Magallanes, Chile in partnership with Porsche and Siemens Energy. (Earlier post.)

In April 2022, Porsche announced a US$75-million investment in HIF Global. (Earlier post.)