Toyota Australia delivers first hydrogen generator to Thiess

Toyota Australia announced that mining services company Theiss is set to be the first customer to take delivery of a locally assembled EODev GEH2 hydrogen fuel cell stationary power generator.

Toyota has invested $3.27m in its facility at Altona to assemble up to 100 GEH2 generators over the next three years. (Photo: Toyota Australia)

The 110-kVA GEH2 power generator was designed by French sustainable energy solutions provider EODev with the support of Toyota Motor Europe, and uses the same Toyota Fuel Cell System that powers the Mirai FCEV.

In October 2023, Toyota Australia announced an agreement with EODev to assemble the GEH2 in Australia at its former manufacturing facility in Altona in Victoria, starting in Q1 2024.

Toyota has invested $3.27 million in the Altona facility to assemble up to 100 GEH2 generators over the next three years and aims to produce 28 in 2024 for customers largely in the mining, construction and events sectors. The generators are being made available through local retail partner Blue Diamond Machinery. Units will also be exported to New Zealand, with Toyota New Zealand as the local distributor.

The sale of the first GEH2 to Thiess was announced at a ceremony celebrating completion of the first unit assembled at Altona.

Toyota Australia President and CEO Matthew Callachor noted the company’s longstanding shared history with Thiess dating to when Sir Leslie Thiess imported the first LandCruisers into Australia to work on the Snowy Hydro Scheme in 1958.

The sale of the first GEH2 to Thiess was announced at a ceremony celebrating the completion of the first unit assembled at Altona. (Photo: Toyota Australia)

“Thiess then gained the Queensland and other state distribution rights from our parent company in Japan and was instrumental in building our brand here, particularly in rural and regional Australia,” he continued. 

“Now, we are working together again in a new era as we collectively aim to build a better future for all Australians.”

Ramesh Liyanage, Thiess Group Executive - Assets, Autonomy & Digital, said Thiess is planning to use the generator in its mining operations in New South Wales and is looking to add a second unit in the future as part of its decarbonization program.

“This year, as Thiess celebrates 90 years of operations, we are well-progressed in our journey to reduce carbon emissions from our operations, and we are determined to make a meaningful contribution towards decarbonizing the world’s resources sector,” Liyanage said.

“We’re pleased at the prospect of being the first customer to take the locally assembled hydrogen fuel cell generator unit and are excited to be partnering with Toyota once again, this time on cutting-edge technology that has the power to shape a more sustainable future for the world.”

Thiess’s business includes mining contracting and rehabilitation, and it also owns FleetCo, which rents large mining machines to customers in Australia, Canada and Chile.