Australia has made remarkable progress towards advancing its hydrogen industry in 2020. Despite the pandemic, industry and governments have taken important steps to identify the role that hydrogen can play in securing Australia’s energy and climate future.
At the centre of this hydrogen vision is the Australian Hydrogen Council (AHC), which has given the hydrogen sector an industry voice into government. This year, the AHC welcomed eight new companies, bringing its membership to 63. The fact that more than 50 Australian businesses have now signed up signals tremendous growth and optimism in the sector.
Here, in the latest instalment of H2 View’s A Christmas Twist: The 12 Days of Content series, Dr. Fiona Simon, CEO of the AHC, tells us more how the AHC is helping to drive Australia’s hydrogen economy.
H2 View (H2V): What have been the significant hydrogen developments in Australia over the past 12 months?
Fiona Simon (FS): From a government perspective, the most notable development was the release of the Federal Government’s Technology Investment Roadmap: a framework to accelerate technologies, including hydrogen technologies, that will deliver lower emissions, lower costs and create jobs.
Funding development for Australian hydrogen projects has been fruitful with the Federal Government’s Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) currently working with a shortlisted group of project proponents to use $70m of funding. There is also $300m of concessional finance available from the Clean Energy Finance Corporation and the Australian Government recently announced a $1.9bn investment in new energy technologies that shows significant support for hydrogen.
We have also seen terrific interest from our states and territories, with almost all having released – about to release – hydrogen strategies and funding allocations.
Industry has also made great strides. One significant development has been the adoption of eight international standards to ensure the safe use, transport and trade of hydrogen. These standards will play a crucial role in providing the technical knowledge and skills that industry need to scale up. We played a pivotal role in the initial planning for the development of these standards back in 2018 with Standards Australia and were closely involved throughout the process.
Finally, we were involved in developing the HyResource website with the CSIRO, Future Fuels CRC and National Energy Resources Australia: a single source of information on hydrogen projects, organisations and policies in Australia with supporting information on New Zealand. The resource is currently tracking approximately 80 projects.
H2V: What milestones are you hoping to see achieved in 2021 in Australia?
FS: In Australia, we know that hydrogen is a crucial part of our future energy mix and presents huge benefits for all Australians. In our view, it’s not a matter of if Australia could be a global hydrogen powerhouse, but how, and by when. It has been pleasing to see the Australian Government set a target of ‘H2 under 2’. We know that getting hydrogen under $2 per kilo by 2030 will involve significant planning and coordination.
In 2021, we would like to see regulation developed to provide certainty to investors, communities and trading partners so we can lay the foundations for the development of large scale projects. Regulation should be co-ordinated across jurisdictions to connect the various regulatory regimes across Australia.
This year so far, we have signed up 25 new members. This phenomenal membership growth reflects the pace at which the hydrogen industry is gaining momentum. We are very motivated to grow our membership even further in 2021 to ensure we are a unified, collaborative industry.
H2V: How is the Australian Hydrogen Council helping to drive the hydrogen economy?
FS: We are driving the hydrogen economy through our diverse membership which covers the entire hydrogen supply chain including sectors such as energy, technology, transport, finance and consulting.
Our focus is on developing policy and sharing knowledge to ensure we build a robust hydrogen economy that will result in jobs, a vibrant export market and a clean energy future.
Our members are at the forefront of the hydrogen industry, developing the projects, skills and experience to get the industry up and running.
They actively contribute to several working groups and committees across a variety of topics including standards, technical regulatory policy development, skills and training, and social licence.
H2V: One of the biggest announcements from the Australian Hydrogen Council this year was the news you’d entered into five new partnerships with Bioenergy Australia, the Clean Energy Council, the Canadian Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Association, the Asia-Pacific Hydrogen Association and the New Zealand Hydrogen Association. Six months on, how are these partnerships progressing?
FS: We have had enormous success this year, not only collaborating within our membership, but also collaborating with international industry bodies. This collaboration is essential to develop a global hydrogen industry built on robust standards, regulation and well-informed policy.
So far, this has resulted in some great exchanges, and our relationships with Bioenergy Australia and the Clean Energy Council here in Australia have led to close partnerships and information exchange, including shared hosting for information sessions for members and others. On the international front, we have been exploring a mining taskforce or initiative with our Canadian and Chilean counterparts.
Since we announced the five MoUs, we have signed MoUs with H2 Chile, Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Association of Singapore, UK Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Association and the Australia-Korea Business Council. We also have another handful in the works.
H2V: Any other highlights from 2020 you’d like to share with H2 View?
FS: The biggest highlight has been the Australian Hydrogen Conference which took place on 16th to 19th November.
This was our first hydrogen conference, where we heard from energy experts from around the world who discussed the role of hydrogen as a global energy source and how Australia is in a prime position to lead the energy transition. We heard from the Minister for Energy and Emissions Reduction the Hon Angus Taylor MP and Dr. Alan Finkel, Australia’s Chief Scientist, who provided leadership and vision about how the hydrogen industry will grow.
We also heard from a range of international speakers, including people from Korea, France, the UK and Germany. This was particularly valuable as it helps us understand other countries’ experiences, motivations and demands for hydrogen.
H2V: Finally, in the spirit of the time of year and theme of the series, if you could have one hydrogen related thing for Christmas, what would it be and why?
FS: Well, for our Australian summer, it would have to be a hydrogen barbeque!
Source : h2
