green hydrogen

With less than 60 days remaining until the next raft of clean energy incentives outlined in the United States’ Inflation Reduction Act take effect, former Reserve Bank of Australia deputy governor Guy Debelle has warned the legislation poses a “material threat” to Australia’s push to become a green hydrogen superpower.

Australian hydrogen developer Abel Energy and Spanish energy group Iberdrola are pushing ahead with plans to deliver a 240 MW green hydrogen and green methanol production facility in Tasmania, inking a deal to secure a site for the $1.2 billion (USD 79 million) project.

Australia’s national science agency will seek to the address some of the challenges associated with storing and transporting hydrogen by developing an off-grid, portable hydrogen generator designed to recover the zero-emissions fuel from a liquid carrier at the point of consumption.

Australia’s push to become a green hydrogen superpower has gained new momentum with the federal and Queensland governments teaming with consortium partners to deliver $117 million (USD 76 million) to progress a 3 GW renewable hydrogen project being developed near Gladstone on the central Queensland coast.

British-headquartered oil and gas giant BP is a step closer to establishing a large-scale integrated renewables and green hydrogen project on Western Australia’s mid-west coast after outlaying $23 million for an almost 23,000-hectare property.

Australian renewable hydrogen company Infinite Green Energy has expanded its relationship with Samsung C&T, teaming with the South Korean industrial conglomerate to progress its flagship Arrowsmith project which is anticipated will produce more than 300 tonnes of renewable hydrogen per day using wind and solar energy.

It sounds like a lot. Kickstarting green hydrogen in Australia with $2 billion (USD 1.35 billion) to subsidise early production and making the energy-dense gas competitive. A goal of up to a gigawatt of electrolyser capacity within seven years.

Ammonia has been in the news because of its suitability as a hydrogen carrier and fuel, in addition to being a vital ingredient in fertiliser. Existing distribution networks and the ease of turning ammonia gas into a liquid make ammonia a cost-effective way to transport renewable energy.

Construction of a 100 MW/200 MWh battery energy storage system being built near Chinchilla in Queensland’s Western Downs region is now being finalised with CS Energy confirming that the last of the 80 Tesla Megapack units for the project have been delivered and installed.

The chair of a new think tank that is pushing for Australia to accelerate the rollout of renewables and become a global clean energy superpower believes the world’s shift towards green energy is a bigger opportunity for the nation than the resources boom.