Hydrogen

A US research team has developed a new technique to produce hydrogen from sunlight and water. It works in an indoor environment and uses pure water, concentrated solar light, and an indium gallium nitride photocatalyst.

Gravitricity, an Edinburgh-based storage specialist, aims to develop the first full-scale demonstration of its underground hydrogen storage solution by working with structural engineering contractor VSL Systems UK.

Chinese scientists have developed a new way to split seawater into hydrogen without using a separate desalination process. They incorporated a self-breathable waterproof membrane and a self-dampening electrolyte (SDE) into the electrolyser, so water migrates from the seawater across the membrane to the SDE, without extra energy consumption.

As Australia’s hydrogen project pipeline doubles in 12 months, Iberdrola announces investment in a green hydrogen and green methanol production plant in Tasmania. Meanwhile, projects in Scandinavia target the shipping industry.

Investment and forecast revenue from Australian resources critical to low-emissions energy technologies has grown dramatically in 2022, federal government reports find. The forecast export earnings from critical minerals has grown 50% in the year, while hydrogen projects now make up the nation’s largest single component by value, though in a highly speculative form.

EODev will start delivering hydrogen generators by the end of 2024 to countries in the US, Europe, Australia and the Middle East, with a focus on regions with public incentive policies. German companies, meanwhile, have agreed to convert a gas pipeline network into a hydrogen pipeline network.

Australian company GenusPlus Group has been awarded a $15 million (USD 9.9 million) contract with Fortescue Future Industries (FFI) to design and construct a 275 kV substation at FFI’s Green Energy Manufacturing Centre in Gladstone, Queensland.

Danish renewable energy developer European Energy has acquired a majority stake in a 3.6 GW integrated solar and battery energy storage facility and green hydrogen production plant being developed near Gladstone on the central Queensland coast.

The South Australia government has called for proposals from industry partners to build a $593 million (USD 398 million) green hydrogen power plant, including 250 MW of hydrogen electrolyser facilities and fit-for-purpose hydrogen storage infrastructure at Whyalla on the east coast of the Eyre Peninsula.

Perth-based Provaris Energy said it is moving forward with its compressed H2 carrier, while Princeton University researchers have published a study on how the transition to hydrogen-based energy systems would affect the tropospheric burdens of methane and hydrogen.