Last week the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) announced the opening of a AUD70 million funding round to support the development of renewable hydrogen projects in Australia.

The new funding aims to help reduce hydrogen production costs through the deployment of commercial-scale facilities using electrolysers of at least 5 MW capacity, with a preference for 10 MW or larger.

The announcement is in line with the objectives of the Hydrogen Strategy launched by the government in November 2019.

The strategy intends to position Australia as a technology leader in this area and hydrogen major exporter over the next decade through investment in technology commercialisation and cooperation agreements with key international markets.

Between 2015 and 2019, the Australian Government had already committed over AUD146 million to related feasibility studies, R&D, demonstration and pilot projects.

In addition, Australia has signed a Cooperation on Hydrogen and Fuel Cells with Japan, which is expected to become a major recipient of Australian hydrogen.

Since 2018, the two countries have been working together on the Hydrogen Energy Supply Chain (HESC) pilot.

The project is to demonstrate an international supply chain where hydrogen liquified in a coal gasification plant in Victoria, Australia will be loaded onto a marine carrier and shipped to Kobe, Japan.

According to a scenario developed for the strategy, scaling up a hydrogen industry in Australia could create about 8000 jobs and generate around AUD11 billion a year by 2050.

Sources:

Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA), ‘ARENA opens $70 million hydrogen deployment funding round’, 15 April 2020, https://arena.gov.au/news/arena-opens-70-million-hydrogen-deployment-funding-round/

Department of Industry, Science, Energy and Resources, Australia’s National Hydrogen Strategy, November 2019, https://www.industry.gov.au/data-and-publications/australias-national-hydrogen-strategy

Ministers for Department of Industry, Science, Energy and Resources, ‘Australia, Japan agreement an exciting step towards hydrogen future’, 10 January 2020, https://www.minister.industry.gov.au/ministers/canavan/media-releases/australia-japan-agreement-exciting-step-towards-hydrogen-future