Province Resources’ ambitious vision to create Australia’s first green hydrogen project, HyEnergy, is currently little more than a sparkle in the company’s eyes, but it has been met with huge fanfare after it was revealed on Wednesday.

The gold and nickel exploration company’s stock price (ASX: PRL) jumped 262% following the “news” of its green hydrogen project – which currently really only consists a conditional agreement to acquire company Ozexco Pty Ltd which holds seven license applications in the Gascoyne region just south of Carnarvon in WA, deemed suitable for developing a renewable green hydrogen project.

Seeing the preliminary nature of the plan as no reason to hesitate, Province Resources, formerly Scandivanadium, have gone ahead and registered Zero Carbon Hydrogen as a trademark, leading to bold headlines about the “arrival” on green hydrogen on Australia’s shores. Investor website Next Investors even claimed Province Resources may just be its stock pick of the year.

Green hydrogen has dominated renewables news this year, with a slate of announcements in Australia testament to a hy-geist. With Australia eager to position itself as a key exporter of hydrogen, and big names like Twiggy Forrest singing its praises, Province Resources seems to have trademarked a clever name right in a sweet spot.

Contributing to excitement about the company and its green hydrogen dreams is its ties to the team at Vulcan Resources, which trademarked Zero Carbon Lithium, and has become something of a market darling. It is being reported that Vulcan’s co-founder and CEO Francis Wedin has invested in Province Resources and is signed on an advisor to the company.

With a number of Australian governments also keen to jump about the hydrogen-fuelled train, Province’s HyEnergy Project could stand to benefit from funds designed to boost the country’s emergent green hydrogen industry. The proposed site is not far from Dampier Bunbury Natural Gas Pipeline and as well as export infrastructure, which will certainly prove helpful.

The company’s vision is to generate 1 GW of renewable energy in Western Australia using wind and solar and to produce approximately 60,000 tonnes of green hydrogen or up to approximately 300,000 tonnes of green ammonia.

The acquisition of Ozexco, the company that currently holds the license applications in the proposed region, is subject to shareholder approval at its general meeting. Province Resources has also received commitments to raise $1.35 million via a placement at 1.5 cents per share, with board members committing $250,000 – which hardly sounds like enough money for such a pioneering project, but given the share price surge and warm reception of the plan, capital raising hardly feels like the biggest hurdle.

It seems Australian markets are hungry for hydrogen and intoxicated by the prospect of something other than fossil fuels keeping exports alive.