From pv magazine Australia

The new Renewable Hydrogen Market Report, produced by ANT Energy Solutions and backed by the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA), features a number of key findings in the race to develop an Australian renewable hydrogen economy. The main conclusion is that on-site solar is the only way to go.

The report’s authors ran two models for renewable hydrogen produced by electrolysis, The first is a high OPEX, low CAPEX model (grid-connected, high capacity-factor), while the second is a high CAPEX, low OPEX model (behind-the-meter, low capacity-factor). The analysis indicated “that despite the much lower utilization rate, behind-the-meter solar renewable hydrogen generation can produce hydrogen at approximately half the cost per kilogram to a grid-connected system” with an electricity cost of AU$0.11 (US$0.07) per kilowatt-hour.

What this means is that the most cost-effective way of producing renewable hydrogen is by powering an electrolyzer with on-site solar. Indeed, the report suggests that hydrogen can be produced via on-site solar at a cost of $3.19 per kilogram of hydrogen versus $6.08 if produced from the grid.

Of course, considering that the costs of solar continue to decrease as efficiency rises, the cost of behind-the-meter solar hydrogen will only continue to drop, possibly below the AU$2 mark.

“Based on this alone, Australia has great potential to drive forward an increase in renewable energy and renewable hydrogen production,” the authors of the report said. “The impetus from ARENA is continuing to drive the cost of solar down with a continued reduction in the cost of large scale solar expected over the next five to 10 years.”

The call then, is for states and the federal government to support large-scale solar electrolysis as the cleanest and most obvious way to drive down the capital costs of a hydrogen economy.

Economic ecosystem

On-site solar is the most cost-effective way to build a domestic and export hydrogen industry, but it also might be the only way. “Commercialization of hydrogen as an end product requires the development of an entire economic ecosystem,” according to the report. “As with all ecosystems, they cannot function until there is critical mass in the system, so the faster scale can be developed, the more chance there is for the ecosystem to form and advantage to be generated.”

If Australia doesn’t act on its competitive advantage sooner rather than later, other countries might develop their hydrogen economies and start exporting first. The report points to Australia’s solar panel industry as an example of “where Australia failed to develop this ecosystem and competitive advantage has been lost to China and the United States, where scale of development has occurred in technology research, equipment design and fabrication.”

Businesses have already noticed the obvious competitive advantage. Toyota is installing a solar-electrolyzer at its site in Melbourne. Indeed, the company recently celebrated Earth Day by unveiling the first completed stage of its green hydrogen hub, with the help of ARENA funding.

Export potential

The CSIRO National Hydrogen Roadmap expects demand for hydrogen imports by Asian nations to reach 3.8 million tons by 2030. At the same time, ACIL Allen Opportunities for Hydrogen Exports model suggests that 10% to 20% of Japanese and South Korean hydrogen demand could be met by Australian exports. In other words, hydrogen means big business.

However, before we can talk about how much hydrogen countries such as Japan and Korea might want from us – let alone how we’ll manage to get the hydrogen up there – we must first decide how we’re going to produce said hydrogen.

In November, the COAG Energy Council adopted the National Hydrogen Strategy, our pathway to a domestic and export hydrogen economy. The strategy, however, remains “technology-neutral,” which is to say it is not solely to produce green hydrogen, but to keep Australia’s options open to fossil-fuels as well — playing the field, as it were. Although, as the ANT report shows, fossil-fuel-produced hydrogen is rather senseless compared to renewably produced hydrogen. Energy Minister Angus Taylor may think he is playing the field, but these are Flanders Fields, not Elysian ones, which is to say that Taylor is pursuing a senseless policy for the comforting sake of outdated norms.

Future forecasts

The ACIL Allen Opportunities for Hydrogen Exports model projected a mid-case forecast of 500,000 tons of hydrogen per annum by 2030. To put that in perspective, if we continue only with what we have already and what we have under construction, by 2025 we will have less than 3,000 tons per annum by 2025.

This is to say, if we don’t scale up renewable hydrogen production capacity by 160 times by 2025, we’ll be just 497,000 tons short of the ACIL Allen mid-case.

For an increase of that scale, Australia needs to put multiple industry-scale (100 MW-plus) renewable hydrogen projects in place over the next few years or the cost of production will remain too high and the hydrogen opportunity will be tentative, if not lost.

The renewable hydrogen opportunity cannot afford to be lost, as the scope of its Promethean potential is unfathomable, but there is much that can be understood already. If renewable hydrogen breaks the $2 per kilogram barrier, for example, it could immediately replace the domestic market for natural gas feedstock and provide a low-cast pathway to a green ammonia export industry, let alone Australia’s grander export ambitions. But, of course, “industry-scale renewable hydrogen development will require government and industry support to enable the adoption and the continued reduction in the cost per kilogram of renewable hydrogen … At levels below A$1.95 between 2025 and 2030, Australia will be able to transition a domestic market and be competitive in the forecast export markets.”

Currently, it is estimated that only 2% to 4% of the world’s hydrogen is produced via electrolysis.

 

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This article originally appeared on pv-magazine-usa.com, and has been republished with permission by pv magazine (www.pv-magazine.com and www.pv-magazine-usa.com).

 

"GET H2 Nucleus" is the first freely accessible hydrogen infrastructure in Germany to combine the generation, transport and purchase of green hydrogen, as this schematic illustration shows.

Source: obs / Nowega GmbH / GET H2

Everyone is talking about green hydrogen as a beacon of hope for the energy transition in Germany, even if there are only a few concrete projects on a large scale. The corresponding infrastructure for transporting green hydrogen is also lacking. But five industrial companies now want to change this. BP, Evonik, Nowega, OGE and RWE Generation signed a letter of intent to develop the "GET H2 Nucleus" project.

According to their own information from Tuesday, they want to build Germany's first publicly accessible hydrogen network between Gelsenkirchen in North Rhine-Westphalia and Lingen in Lower Saxony by the end of 2022. The green hydrogen will then be used to supply industrial companies in the two federal states, it was said. It is planned to generate the green hydrogen in a 100 megawatt RWE Generation electrolyser in Lingen. Then it should be transported to existing customers such as refineries or chemical parks in Lingen, Marl and Gelsenkirchen via existing gas pipelines from the network operators Nowega and OGE, some of which still need to be converted, as well as a new part from Evonik. The network should be available to dealers and consumers on a non-discriminatory basis.

However, companies also asked politicians to create the necessary legal framework that would enable the rapid expansion of green hydrogen production and the associated infrastructure. Above all, they would need investment security. In addition to the appropriate political framework, the economic ones would also have to be right to start the project by the end of 2022 if possible.

The supply of industrial companies with green hydrogen is one of the "low-hanging fruits" for a lower-carbon future. Many of these companies would already use large amounts of hydrogen in their production processes. By switching to green hydrogen, CO2 emissions could be reduced quickly and significantly. The construction of a hydrogen infrastructure based on the existing gas infrastructure guarantees exactly the security of supply to which industrial customers depend, as the project partners said. In the future, existing cavern storage facilities should be integrated along the hydrogen line. This would further increase security of supply.

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This article originally appeared on pv-magazine-germany.com and has been republished with permission by pv magazine (www.pv-magazine.com and www.pv-magazine-germany.com.)

Photo: Tecnalia

Iberdrola will develop a large green hydrogen project from renewable energy sources in Puertollano, according to what the city council has made public, which, in turn, mentions an article published in the economic newspaper Expansión.

The project will involve an investment of up to 150 million euros in a plant that will be one of the largest in Europe of its kind, that is, production of hydrogen from photovoltaic energy, unlike other systems, which are based on fossil fuels pollutants. The group's goal is to achieve decarbonisation and cheaper hydrogen in the future, which is now basically used in industry, but is beginning to have other applications, such as electric vehicles.

According to Iberdrola estimates, published last week by Expansión, the Puertollano plant will consist of a 100 MW experimental photovoltaic plant that will incorporate bifacial panels and string inverters, as well as a 20 MWh lithium-ion battery storage system. and 5 MW. It will also have a green hydrogen production system through electrolysis: divided into stackable modules that allow the plant to be expanded, according to the identified hydrogen demand needs. In this regard, different technologies will be tested: alkaline, proton exchange membrane, and solid oxide.

It will also have a main hydrogen storage system in pressurized tanks and an experimental storage plant for other technologies such as LOHC (organic liquid carrier hydrogen), as well as a control system that allows the optimal balance between renewable production, use of the battery and the energy dedicated to the production of green hydrogen.

Ideal location

"The choice of Puertollano as an enclave to launch the project is not accidental", they explain from the town hall. “It is a strategic place from which Iberdrola will not only be able to produce hydrogen, but will also be able to commercialize it for industrial use to adjacent companies for their production processes. The project will be located on the land that Iberdrola has had in Puertollano for years, and where it had already begun to build the photovoltaic. In Puertollano there is also the National Hydrogen Center. To distinguish itself from other hydrogens, Iberdrola will promote the creation of a green label for those produced with electricity before the authorities ”, they add.

Together with the project, Iberdrola will promote the creation of a 'green' label for the hydrogen produced that ensures that its carbon footprint is zero, thus helping hydrogen users to reduce their CO2 emissions.

The power company claims that decarbonising global hydrogen through its production with renewable electric energy would mean an increase in electricity demand of more than 10%, which would allow for the flood of renewable energy projects that the Government plans to incorporate with the new energy plan. .

Other pioneering projects

This project joins those that have been announced in recent weeks: the green hydrogen production plant in Lloseta, a pioneer in Spain, will start operating from 2021 thanks to the Power to Green Hydrogen Mallorca project, and will allow a generation of up to 10 MW of production.

The Fundación Hidrogen Aragón coordinates a project to promote decarbonisation in Europe: The HIGGS project, which is now being launched in Huesca, will study for 36 months the possibilities of injecting hydrogen into current natural gas networks as a way to reduce emissions of CO2 in sectors difficult to electrify.

Enagás and Ampere will be the first to produce hydrogen with solar energy in Spain: both companies have signed an agreement for the joint development of several R&D projects for hydrogen production with solar and batteries.

Tecnalia, Engie and the University of Eindhoven (TUe) create in Bizkaia H2SITE, a startup to produce green hydrogen on site.

Green Hydrogen has serious potential to accelerate the transition to clean sources of energy. Schedule a call with us to see how we could work together: 

This article originally appeared on pv-magazine-spain.com, and has been republished with permission by pv magazine (www.pv-magazine.com and www.pv-magazine-spain.com).

Hydrogen from electrolysis is often described as the missing link in the energy transition.

Image: Roy Luck/Flickr

As the momentum is building behind hydrogen in Australia and abroad, the Queensland University of Technology (QUT) is leading the way in research and development with a range of initiatives on the ground. After it played a key role in Australia’s first green hydrogen shipment to Japan, QUT is now readying to drive the green hydrogen export industry through the Future Energy Exports Cooperative Research Centre (FEnEx CRC).

Officially established on Friday, the FEnEx CRC is a national collaboration of 28 industry, government, and research partners. As announced on Friday, the center won the backing of the Federal Government to the tune of $40 million, which builds upon a further $122 million in support from industry, state governments, and research organizations.

The CRC’s core mission is to ensure Australia’s LNG industry remains competitive, reduces its environmental footprint, and helps to grow hydrogen exports for new emerging markets. Its foundation project will be establishing the LNG Futures Facility, a 10 tonne-per-day research and teaching plant to be based at Kwinana, in Western Australia.

“FEnEx CRC will undertake cutting-edge, industry-led research, education and training to help sustain Australia’s position as a leading LNG exporter, and enable it to become the leading global exporter of clean hydrogen,” Professor Eric May, UWA’s Chevron Chair in Gas Process Engineering and FEnEx CRC Acting CEO, said. “Our established LNG sector is a key advantage in the race to grow a hydrogen export industry because of the similar workforce skills, engineering standards, shipping routes, and business relationships.”

But while Professor May has spoken about “clean” hydrogen, there has been no indication that this hydrogen will be truly clean and produced by electrolysis using solar or wind electricity. He said the CRC would support Australia’s National Hydrogen Strategy, which remains “technology-neutral”, with both hydrogen produced using renewable energy and the one via fossil fuels with “substantial” carbon capture and storage (CCS) in the game.

Throughout the consultation process last year, Chief Scientist Alan Finkel continued to push Australia toward hydrogen produced by solar and wind, but also remained attached to the fossil fuel-CSS idea. The stance was reflected in the Strategy itself.

Green hydrogen push

Nonetheless, Professor Ian Mackinnon, from QUT’s Institute for Future Environments, said FEnEx would build on the extensive work QUT had already done in the green hydrogen sphere, including partnering with Japanese company JXTG to produce and export green hydrogen to Japan and leading a $7.5 million research project to establish a renewable energy pilot plant producing green hydrogen at the Redlands Research Facility. This latter project is supported by four universities, Japanese and Australian corporations, the Queensland Government and the Commonwealth agency, ARENA.

“The FEnEx CRC is an excellent opportunity to translate the skills from one industry, and to build another export industry in the world of green hydrogen storage and utilization,” Professor Mackinnon said. As part of the FEnEx CRC, QUT’s Professor Mackinnon and Professor Anthony O’Mullane will be working on research projects involving the hydrogen export and value chains.

“This complements QUT’s activities in developing a renewable energy facility at Redlands to power the production of hydrogen using various electrolyser technologies,” Professor O’Mullane said. “This program will enable the next generation of scientists and engineers with the key skills for the transition to renewable power generation, storage, transport and utilisation. This CRC will accelerate efforts in the development of cheaper, more stable catalysts for rapid deployment in commercial scale electrolysers to produce green hydrogen.”

Another QUT professor, Rachel Parker will lead the Market Development Program in the FEnEx CRC, which will aim to identify the strongest global market opportunities for the development of Australia’s future energy exports. “The market development program will identify the business and social drivers and barriers to the adoption of technologies developed through the other CRC programs and will maximise the market and social benefits from the rapidly changing technological and industrial context of energy,” she said.

The Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) has announced a $1.25 million (US$807,495) grant to Queensland government-owned electricity generator Stanwell Corp. to assist a feasibility study for a renewable hydrogen demonstration plant, which will be located next to the company’s existing power station near Rockhampton. Stanwell’s $5 million study, which started in July 2019, is investigating the technical and economic feasibility of hydrogen electrolysis projects above 10 MW in size. If built, it will be the largest green hydrogen electrolysis plant in Australia.

To offset 100% of the emissions associated with running the electrolyzer, Stanwell will procure energy and green certificates from renewable energy projects in the region. This will be yet another innovative deal for the publicly owned generator, following last year’s network support agreement between Stanwell’s Kareeya Hydro Power Station and Pacific Hydro’s 100 MW Haughton Solar Farm. Under that deal, the services provided by Kareeya will strengthen the regional grid, which is subject to lower system-strength levels, to operate the solar project in line with generator performance standards.

A key outcome of the study will be to define the most valuable end use for renewable hydrogen. The utility-scale electrolyzer will enjoy the advantages of the existing power station to use pre-existing land approvals, network connections, and access to demineralized water, which is required for hydrogen production.

The project could demonstrate the role that renewable hydrogen production can play in an electricity system. In particular, the hydrogen electrolyzer could be used as a complementary energy market load that can ramp up in times of excess energy supply, such as peak solar output during the day. It could also aid system security through participation in Frequency Control Ancillary Services (FCAS) markets or future markets such as Fast Frequency Response (FFR).

“Through Stanwell’s feasibility study we’re showing a new option for producing and using renewable hydrogen. This will create opportunities across the domestic economy and help to position Australia to become a major renewable energy exporter,” ARENA CEO Darren Miller said. The ongoing study is expected to be completed later this year.

The hydrogen industry in its infancy in Australia, but the study will determine the optimal conditions for electrolyzers operating at high capacities. “The construction and operation of a utility-scale electrolyzer is important to demonstrate the costs associated with producing renewable hydrogen at scale,” Miller said. “If feasible, this could help underpin future commercial scale deployments leveraging existing network infrastructure at other power stations, and play a role in driving down the cost of domestic hydrogen production.”

ARENA has committed approximately $50 million towards hydrogen initiatives so far, including more than $22 million to R&D projects, and almost $28 million to demonstration, feasibility and pilot projects. In some of its earlier Queensland initiatives, ARENA announced it was providing $2.9 million in funding to two studies looking at the potential to use solar and wind-powered hydrogen produced via electrolysis to increase ammonia production at facilities which currently rely on gas as feedstock.

Schedule a call with us to see how Green Hydrogen could work for your facility:

This article originally appeared on pv-magazine-usa.com, and has been republished with permission by pv magazine (www.pv-magazine.com and www.pv-magazine-usa.com).

Providence Asset Group's Mr Llewellyn Owens, NSW Energy Minister Matt Kean, UNSW's Professor Kondo-Francois Aguey-Zinsou.

Image: UNSW

More than $15 million in funding from the state government’s Regional Community Energy Fund was announced on Tuesday to help regional communities in New South Wales (NSW) take control of their energy bills and benefit from the economic opportunities presented by the energy transition. The awarded projects will unlock nearly 17.2 MW in electricity generation and up to 17.9 MW/39.3 MWh of energy storage, leveraging approximately $36 million in private investment.

Six projects will install solar, four of which will collocate battery storage on site, and one will deliver a shared community battery scheme.  The list of approved projects includes 5 MW Bayron Bay Solar Farm alongside a 5 MW / 10MWh DC-coupled battery; 500 kW Gloucester Community Solar Farm; the Goulburn Community Dispatchable Solar Farm involving 1.2 MW of solar PV and 400 kW / 800 kWh of battery storage; 1 MW Haystack Solar Garden; Orange Community Renewable Energy Park with a 5 MW solar farm and up to 5 MW / 5 MWh of battery storage; and a 1 MW / 2MWh battery, which will be installed under Enova Community’s Shared Community Battery Scheme for regional NSW.

A project that stands out in the group for its combination of on-site renewable energy technologies is the Manilla Community Solar. The development will feature 4.5 MW of solar PV, 4.5 MW / 4.5MWh of battery storage and a 2 MW /17 MWh hydrogen energy storage system. It will be backed by a $3.5 million grant that has been awarded to the Manilla Solar Project, a partnership between Manilla Community Renewable Energy and green investment outfit Providence Asset Group.

Plans for the Manilla solar farm were announced in December as one of the first of up to 30 community solar initiatives to be rolled out across regional Australia. On Tuesday, it was confirmed that the development will feature an advanced hybrid battery storage system in addition to the solar and battery storage components. According to UNSW, solid-state hydrogen technology will be installed in 20-foot containers with an energy density of 17 MWh and will be a first of this kind in the world in terms of scale.

New generation of batteries

The technology was first unveiled last March when a team of researchers at UNSW headed by Professor Kondo-Francois Aguey-Zinsou said they had developed a unique system that allowed for cheap storage and transportation of hydrogen and could provide a new alternative for energy storage within two years.

Their research, conducted in partnership with H2Store, had been underpinned with $3.5 million in backing from Providence Asset Group. The funding was intended to help the team deliver phase one of a four-stage project that includes the creation of prototypes of their hydrogen energy storage solution for residential and commercial use, demonstration units, and testing and optimization that will enable full commercialization of the product.

Speaking about the first phase of the project, Professor Kondo-Francois Aguey-Zinsou said that he believed his invention would offer significant advantages over current power storage solutions for home solar systems, such as the Tesla Powerwall battery.

“We will be able to take energy generated through solar panels and store it as hydrogen in a very dense form, so one major advantage of our hydrogen batteries is that they take up less space and are safer than the lithium-ion batteries used in many homes today,” he said, adding that the system can actually store about seven times more energy than other that are currently available. Other advantages include a lifespan of about 30 years compared with under 10 for other systems and no fire risk.

On Tuesday, Professor Aguey-Zinsou said: “I am very excited to see the technology we developed in the lab here at UNSW scaled up and used in real-world applications. It will prove the feasibility of hydrogen storage at scale and position Australia to become a major player in transitioning to renewable energy.”

Construction will commence on the Manilla Solar Project in the second half of 2020 and is expected to be operational early 2021. The storage component will be installed during 2021.

Interested in how hydrogen storage can be incorporated into your solar facility? Schedule a call with us:

This article originally appeared on pv-magazine-australia.com, and has been republished with permission by pv magazine (www.pv-magazine.com and www.pv-magazine-australia.com.)

H2SITE will provide low cost, high purity small and medium scale distributed hydrogen.

Photo: Tecnalia

Ten years ago, the Tecnalia research and development center and the EIndhoven University of Technology (TUe) began collaborating on European projects around metal deposition technologies, and in 2018 they won the second EARTO Innovation award. A year later, they created a limited company, H2SITE, which French power company Engie has just joined through its corporate venture capital fund, Engie New Ventures.

The new company will be located in Bizkaia and will develop a technology for small and medium-scale distributed hydrogen generation, of high purity and low cost, using advanced membrane reactors. “For the creation of this new company, the strategy developed by Tecnalia in the field of gas separation membranes has been key. This technological excellence is combined with the strategic collaboration established together with the University of Eindhoven, for the development of advanced membrane reactors ”, the company states in a statement.

The project will represent the first investment by Engie New Ventures, one of the largest global funds in the utilities sector, in start-ups in Spain.

The new company has received from the beginning the support of the Provincial Council of Bizkaia, and will have an initial staff of 3 people for the first year of activity. H2SITE will provide low cost, high purity small and medium scale distributed hydrogen for both stationary applications and isolated areas requiring energy and mobility. "H2SITE will facilitate the deployment of 100% green electric mobility, opening up the possibility for on-board systems, within the vehicles themselves, to generate hydrogen," says the company, adding that "as a hydrogen technology platform, H2SITE will be capable of producing hydrogen from various compounds, such as biomethane, ammonia, bioethanol, etc. "

H2SITE will exploit a technology developed by Tecnalia and TUe, based on the intensification of processes, through advanced membrane reactors, maximizing the efficiency of the hydrogen production process and minimizing the necessary resources.

As for its industrial customers, H2SITE will offer a reduction of up to 40% of its current costs associated with the consumption of hydrogen, while reducing environmental impacts and avoiding regulatory and safety problems associated with the storage of hydrogen as it is an spot on demand.

“The main business objective of the startup is to become a state and European benchmark in the generation of green hydrogen and therefore, a relevant lever in the necessary energy transition. To do this, the challenge is to become the main supplier of hydrogen generated in situ for industrial use in stationary applications in prioritized industrial sectors, which are chemical, food, metallurgical, glass and electronics, which together represent a great part of the regional and national GDP ”, the statement ends.

Enagás and Ampere Energy recently announced the signing of an agreement for the joint development of several R&D projects for hydrogen production with solar and batteries.

This article originally appeared on pv-magazine.es, and has been republished with permission by pv magazine (www.pv-magazine.com and www.pv-magazine.es.

The solar-powered hydrogen facility owned by Toshiba in Namie, Fukushima prefecture, Japan.

Image: Toshiba

Japanese conglomerate Toshiba Corporation has announced its Fukushima Hydrogen Energy Research Field (FH2R) project, on which construction began in July 2018, is operational.

The solar-powered 10 MW hydrogen plant in Namie town, Fukushima prefecture, is said to be able to produce 1,200 normal cubic meters (Nm³) of hydrogen per hour.

The intermittent nature of solar generation prompted Toshiba to design the facility to be able to adjust to supply and demand in the grid, the company said.

“Hydrogen produced at FH2R will also be used to power stationary hydrogen fuel cell systems and to provide for … mobility devices, fuel-cell cars and buses and more,” Toshiba added. “The most important challenge in the current stage of testing is to use the hydrogen energy management system to achieve the optimal combination of production and storage of hydrogen and power grid supply-demand balancing adjustments without the use of storage batteries.”

Solar power

The plant is being powered by 20 MW of solar generation capacity as well as grid power. The hydrogen generated is being transported in trailers and hydrogen bundles to users elsewhere in the prefecture as well as the Tokyo metropolitan area and other regions.

In early January, Toshiba commissioned the H2One Station Unit, an energy storage system producing hydrogen at the Toyama City Environment Center in Toyama prefecture. According to the company, that kind of installation can be deployed easily and operated by customers such as factories, harbors, airports and bus depots. A similar facility was deployed at the end of December in Tsuruga City, in the Hokuriku region.

Toshiba’s energy system and solutions business began a demonstration of an holistic hydrogen supply chain for electricity generation in May 2018.

The multinational had announced in February 2016 it would place more emphasis on its energy and storage businesses following an accounting scandal which had prompted a restructure and losses of around $6 billion in 2015.

This article was amended on 10/03/20 to reflect the claimed hourly hydrogen production capacity is measured in normal cubic meters rather than newton meters, as previously reported.

This article originally appeared on pv-magazine-usa.com, and has been republished with permission by pv magazine (www.pv-magazine.com and www.pv-magazine-usa.com).

Hydrogen from electrolysis is often described as the missing link in the energy transition.

Image: ARENA

Gladstone set to become the nation’s green hydrogen hotspot with two new projects seeking to tap the opportunities in the domestic supply of zero-emissions gas and in the emerging export market. Located in central Queensland, Gladstone is set to become the first entire city in the nation to be on a blend of natural gas and hydrogen.

An Australian first $4.2 million gas injection facility will be built in Gladstone to deliver renewable hydrogen into the city’s gas network, thanks to the first grant from the Queensland Government’s $15 million Hydrogen Industry Development Fund. “Using green hydrogen, Australian Gas Networks (AGN) will trial the blended hydrogen gas with a view to converting Gladstone’s network to hydrogen in the future,” Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said.

AGN, part of the Australian Gas Infrastructure Group (AGIG), has been offered more than $1.7 million through the fund to build a blending facility to deliver 10% renewable hydrogen into the gas network. Under its $19 million hydrogen strategy, Queensland is looking to assist companies with the purchase of capital equipment as well as industry players looking to carry out feasibility studies.

“This project will be the first in Australia to blend renewable hydrogen into a gas network with residential, commercial and industrial customers,” Minister for State Development Cameron Dick said speaking from the Gladstone Hydrogen Forum on Thursday.

Elsewhere in Australia, Canadian gas giant ATCO started blending renewable hydrogen into the on-site natural gas network at its Clean Energy Innovation Hub in Jandakot, WA. The blend will be used throughout the Jandakot depot as the first step in exploring the potential of hydrogen for home use in gas appliances.

In another initiative for greening the gas network, energy infrastructure company Jemena is looking to generate hydrogen from renewables and inject it into the existing gas network so that homes and businesses in Sydney could begin using the fuel within five years. The $15 million Western Sydney Green Gas Project aims to demonstrate the co-mingling, storage and distribution of hydrogen and natural gas in the existing network which, as Jemena puts it, has the capacity to store the equivalent of 8 million Powerwall batteries.

“This project supports Gladstone’s vision to be a key hub for Queensland’s domestic and hydrogen export industry, just as it is for natural gas today,” AGN’s CEO Ben Wilson said. AGN had formed a partnership with Central Queensland University (CQU) providing access to the blending facility for CQU staff and students to build skills in hydrogen technologies.

Gigawatt plans

Along with the AGN project, Gladstone has also been selected as the location for the Hydrogen Utility’s (H2U) latest project, a proposed $1.61 billion industrial complex for the large-scale production of green hydrogen and ammonia. The H2-Hub^TM Gladstone facility will be built in stages to integrate up to 3 GW in electrolysis plant, and up to 5,000 tonnes per day ammonia production capacity.

“The integration of mature technologies – such as electrolysis and ammonia synthesis – at industrial scale, powered by 100 per cent renewable power supply, meets the emerging demand for decarbonised products in the energy, chemicals and mobility markets of North Asia,” Attilio Pigneri CEO and Founder of H2U said. He sees Queensland as well-positioned to capitalize on the opportunities from this new industry, in part due to its strong existing trading relationships with Japan.

According to Attilio, Gladstone was an obvious choice for locating industrial-scale green hydrogen and ammonia facilities due to its existing skill base, industrial port eco-system, and strategic location in the Queensland grid. Through the government-run land use planning and property development agency, Economic Development Queensland (EDQ), H2U has purchased a 171-hectare site at Yarwun in the Gladstone State Development Area, which is in close proximity to the export precinct at Fisherman’s Landing.

“The progressive and well-structured planning framework applicable to State Development Areas such as Yarwun, was also a key factor in our selection of the project site,” Pigneri said. “With the land in Gladstone secured under contract the project will now move into master planning and detailed feasibility, targeting approvals by 2023 and first operation in 2025.”

The project could potentially translate into a major bonanza for the city, creating over 100 operational jobs and driving new exports for green hydrogen and ammonia. Ultimately, it could turn Gladstone into the hydrogen export powerhouse on the back of Queensland’s solar, wind and biomass resources, existing gas pipeline infrastructure and developed export infrastructure.

A big step was made last year when Queensland celebrated Australia’s first-ever delivery of green hydrogen to Japan. The fuel was exported by JXTG, Japan’s largest petroleum conglomerate, with hydrogen produced at QUT’s solar cell facility at the Queensland government’s Redlands Research Facility.

Previously, the Queensland government committed $750,000 for a feasibility study into producing hydrogen using solar energy from central Queensland and exporting it to Japan via Gladstone. In a separate initiative, the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) announced it was providing $2.9 million in funding to two studies in Queensland looking at the potential to use solar and wind-powered hydrogen produced via electrolysis to increase ammonia production at facilities which currently rely on gas as feedstock.

This article originally appeared on pv-magazine-australia.com, and has been republished with permission by pv magazine (www.pv-magazine.com and www.pv-magazine-australia.com )

Image: Warren Entsch MP

In May 2019, a federal government grant of $990,150 backed Daintree Renewable Energy Pty Ltd toward a feasibility study that would take the fully renewable solar baseload-power microgrid to ‘shovel ready’ status within 12 months. If what Federal MP Warren Entsch has said is true, construction on the project should be underway in a matter of months. 

“Work commenced in early December 2019,” said Entsch, “and will be finalised in July 2020…The final report will include a complete series of engineering and technical design packages including a detailed energy load profile study, microgrid management design, solar generation and storage analysis and design, electrical and civil work designs and microgrid economic analysis.” 

Because the Daintree is a World Heritage Protected Rainforest there are heavy restrictions on planning and development. Because of this, Entsch has also quashed the rumour that further development in the region was on the cards. The microgrid project is it, and, Entsch assures us, it “is being designed to align with the strict planning regime and accommodate energy requirements for existing population and businesses.” 

The proposed microgrid would reduce the Daintree area’s reliance on diesel dramatically. Currently, the region relies on four million litres of diesel fuel per year to generate power. 

Volt Advisory Group project manager Richard Schoenemann said work on the project was “actually” slightly ahead of schedule. “It will remove the need to burn dirty and inefficient diesel in the Daintree,” said Schoenemann, “allowing customers to have access to a cleaner, more affordable, more reliable source of energy.” 

“But more importantly,” Schonemann stressed, “once the concept is demonstrated and up-and-running it will have enormous potential to improve the power supply and lives of people living in remote communities including throughout the Torres Strait.” 

Like many remote island communities, Torres Strait Islanders would greatly benefit from the sustainable renewable energy supplied by solar based microgrids.

The federal government grant forms part of its $50.4 million Regional and Remote Communities Reliability Fund, part of the Morrison Government’s $2 billion Climate Solutions Fund. You may remember the Climate Solutions Fund as the pitiful federal effort toward the nation’s Paris targets that was supposed to be a 10-year investment plan but has already been pushed to 15 years, cutting the investment by 30%.  

Under the scheme, the Coalition government plans to support exploratory work for up to 50 off-grid and fringe-of-grid feasibility studies, and take proposals like the Daintree region project to the investment stage.