Hydrogen

Larry Marshall, Chief Executive of the CSIRO, Australia’s national science agency, told Australia’s Hydrogen Conference that he was “highly optimistic” about Australia’s future, saying the country is currently at the “forefront” of hydrogen – a position not often held by our island state and one we must “dig our teeth into.”

Australia’s national science agency, the CSIRO, has launched a collaborative “Team Australia” style mission bringing together actors from all aspects of hydrogen development and production toward the goal of driving costs below $2/kg and driving Australia toward hydrogen superpower status by 2030.

Details are thin on the ground as yet, but Emirati newspaper The National has reported the port facility will be linked to an 800 MW solar field at the site.

A new study commissioned by the Clean Energy Finance Corporation has indicated renewable hydrogen is already approaching cost competitiveness with that produced using fossil fuels but some in the industry have declared the government-owned green bank’s figures are much too conservative.

Queensland is pushing ahead with its ambitions to become a major player in the evolving global hydrogen sector with the addition of both Gladstone and Toowoomba to the National Energy Resources Australia network of hydrogen technology clusters.

The pilot project is combining hydrogen fuel cell generators with a combined capacity of 500 kW with a 570 kW solar array and 1.1 MWh of lithium-ion batteries. It is planned to come online in the spring of 2022.

As Australia’s hydrogen hype is substantiated by a pipeline of real projects backed by real money, questions around how to design Australia’s ‘future fuel’ industry so it doesn’t become a fossil fuel lifeline grow increasingly urgent. Nicky Ison, WWF Australia’s Energy Transition Manager, shares the four focal points she believes are key to ensuring Australia’s hydrogen economy is cleanly built.

Australia’s largest petroleum company Ampol has declared its intent to transition away from traditional oil-based fuels, teaming with Ireland’s Fusion Fuel to develop a solar-powered hydrogen production plant at it’s oil refinery in Queensland.

Spanish PV project developer Gransolar is planning to build a large-scale green hydrogen production plant in the Port of Almería, in southern Spain.

The project is the first solar-powered green hydrogen facility in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region.