Australia will invest nearly A$850mn ($635mn) in hydrogen technologies as part of its 2022-23 budget as the nation looks to become a major exporter of the fuel.

The federal budget announced this week sets aside A$300mn to support low-emission LNG and clean hydrogen production at Darwin, together with carbon capture and storage infrastructure.

It includes A$247mn to support investment in a guarantee of origin scheme for hydrogen, as well as other technologies. A further A$200mn is set aside for hydrogen manufacturing facilities in the Pilbara region. And A$100mn is allocated to the port of Newcastle on the east coast to help make it ‘hydrogen ready’.

“Our technology not taxes approach will make sure Australia meets and beats our 2030 emissions target, and plays a leading role in bringing down global emissions by investing in the technologies that will not just help Australia, but will help the world,” says energy and industry minister Angus Taylor. 

Hydrogen hubs

Darwin and Pilbara are two of the seven hydrogen hubs developed as part of the government’s hydrogen strategy. The others are in Tasmania, the Eyre Peninsula, Gladstone, the Latrobe Valley and the Hunter Valley.

88 – Hydrogen projects in Australia

The federal government has already invested A$464mn in developing the hubs following the release of its national hydrogen strategy in 2019.

Funding is also available at state level. The state government of Victoria announced two new grant schemes for industrial hydrogen technologies last year, and the Queensland government allocated A$100,000 for the development of its clusters. The Western Australian government has committed A$61.5m for green hydrogen technologies. And the state of New South Wales has also recently released its hydrogen strategy.

A total of 88 green and blue hydrogen projects—ranging from pilots to commercial-scale developments—had been proposed as of last year, with almost half of the projects planning to export at least some of their production.

A 2019 report by government agency Geoscience Australia identified 873,000km² of land suitable for green hydrogen production, with almost a third of it rated as having “high potential”. Most of this is in coastal areas, due to the requirement of water for electrolysers and the need for electrical and port infrastructure.

Forging trades routes

Earlier this year, Australia loaded the world’s first liquefied hydrogen cargo onto a specially built vessel that delivered it to Japan from the Hydrogen Energy Supply Chain project in the state of Victoria.

Japanese firms have signed provisional agreements with Australian companies as the nation looks to secure supplies of hydrogen.

Green hydrogen production costs are expected to decline to A$2-4/kg by 2030, according to the latest State of Hydrogen report from the country’s Department of Industry, Science, Energy and Resources.

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Author: Tom Young