Hydrogen

Oxford Institute for Energy Studies researchers have developed a cost-effective material to absorb hydrogen at non-cryogenic temperatures, which they consider optimal for fuel cell storage systems.

Origin Energy has secured a $45 million (USD 28.7 million) commitment from the New South Wales government to advance the development of a commercial-scale green hydrogen manufacturing hub on Kooragang Island near Newcastle.

With the regulatory scaffolding around natural hydrogen starting to be erected across the country, the Western Australian government has confirmed it will charge a royalty on hydrogen extracted from underground geological formations, otherwise known as natural or gold hydrogen.

Plans to develop a large-scale green hydrogen production and export facility at Port Bonython in South Australia have received a significant boost with the state and federal governments investing $100 million (USD 64.4 million) to develop infrastructure that will support the proposed $593 million project.

The International Energy Agency has warned that lagging policy support, rising costs, and supply chain disruptions threaten the profitability of low-emission hydrogen, meanwhile the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) has identified hydrogen seeps in South Australia.

West Australian natural hydrogen startup H2EX will work with Adelaide-headquartered space exploration company Fleet Space Technologies to accelerate the discovery of naturally occurring hydrogen systems in South Australia’s Eyre Peninsula.

Hitachi Energy has delivered a modular solution to electrify a 20 MW electrolyser to produce hydrogen to heat steel before rolling, while Enapter has unveiled its AEM electrolysers for industrial and refuelling pilot projects.

Fortescue Future Industries (FFI), owned by mining giant Fortescue Metals, has submitted a proposal for a green hydrogen and ammonia production facility project in Canada’s British Columbia. Dubbed ‘Project Coyote’ the facility would be located in the city of Prince George in the centre of the Canadian province.

Japanese company IHI Corporation, which specialises in green ammonia technology to decarbonise industry, has joined the consortium of companies developing the green hydrogen hub HyNQ – North Queensland Clean Energy Project.

H2FLY claims that a recent three-hour test flight, entirely powered by liquid hydrogen, could lead to sustainable long-range flights fuelled by liquefied, cryogenic hydrogen. Solaris, meanwhile, has started selling hydrogen buses in Italy.