Ampt and Hiringa Energy plan to deploy a 27 MW (DC) solar panel with 30 MWh battery storage to produce green hydrogen and ammonia for a low-carbon cotton company in Australia.
The American Ampt is working with the New Zealand green hydrogen company Hiringa Energy on an initiative for the production of low-carbon cotton.
Ampt’s string optimizer technology will support a solar plus storage system for the Hiringa hydrogen and ammonia plant, part of the Good Earth Green Hydrogen and Ammonia (GEGHA) project near Moree, eastern Australia.
The project includes a 27 MW solar panel combined with a 30 MWh battery energy storage system. Ampt string optimizers enable a DC-coupled design, where the solar system is connected directly to the DC bus between the battery and the grid-forming battery inverter.
String optimizers are DC/DC converters deployed in the solar panels that perform MPPT (Maximum Power Point Tracking) on each solar panel input string. This maximizes production and delivers full available power, while monitoring battery voltage during charge and discharge cycles.
Ampt says its battery-centric designs offer fast response times and advanced network service capabilities, including Frequency Control Ancillary Services (FCAS). By using fewer inverters and transformers than conventional setups, the system delivers cheaper energy management with higher efficiency.
The GEGHA project is part-funded by the Australian Government with AUD 35.8 million ($23.5 million) under the Net Zero Plan Stage 1: 2020-30 and will support Sundown Pastoral’s low-carbon cotton production. It uses renewable energy to provide a local, low-carbon alternative to imported fertilizers and raw materials.
The battery-centric design is critical for powering off-grid electrolysers and producing enough hydrogen to continuously power the ammonia plant.
“Green hydrogen and ammonia production places unique demands on energy systems, and Ampt’s DC energy management technology allows us to maximize the efficiency of solar energy generation and storage, which is essential to make production costs competitive,” said Alistair Tippett of Hiringa Energy.
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