Can the Middle East open the door to affordable clean hydrogen?

Image: Ghadir Shaar

A report by the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) has suggested affordable green hydrogen could already be obtainable, based on the record-breaking low prices for solar negotiated in the Middle East.

Solar electricity tariffs of $0.0157, $0.0135 and $0.0104 per kilowatt-hour agreed in Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia, respectively, in the last 18 months, would enable renewables-powered hydrogen to be produced for as little as $1.62 per kilogram, according to IRENA's Renewable Power Generation Costs in 2020 report.

The Abu Dhabi-based international body made its calculations – all of which are in U.S. dollars – based on the $0.0104 solar power tariff agreed in Saudi Arabia in April, with green hydrogen generation being modeled at the Dumat al Jandal site in the kingdom which boasts strong solar and wind power resources. With the site already hosting a wind farm, IRENA modeled a hydrogen plant which would also harness solar and be connected to the grid. The report suggested lack of a grid connection would raise the renewable hydrogen cost to $1.74/kg, which still compares favorably to the current $1.45-2.40/kg price of hydrogen production powered by natural gas and equipped with carbon capture and storage (CCS) tech.

Further extrapolating the costs, the study estimated a fall in hydrogen electrolyzer costs, from $750 per kilowatt of capacity to $350, would enable renewable hydrogen production for $1.16/kg. Raising electrolyzer efficiency to 72.5% and extending stack lifetime from 15 to 17.5 on top of that, IRENA said, could take green hydrogen below the prized $1/kg point.

With this year's renewables price report explaining how the three tariffs secured in the Middle East since January 2020 can be regarded as viable without any hidden caveats or subsidy, the authors of the study stated: “low-cost renewable hydrogen may already be in reach.”

The document fleshed out how up to 800 GW of coal-fired power generation capacity worldwide could already be replaced by newly-built renewable energy facilities as solar and wind prices have dipped under the cost of running legacy fossil fuel plants in many markets. That estimate included a $5/MWh cost of integrating renewables into the electric grid and IRENA said, with around 40% of that overpriced capacity – and 37% of actual generation – based in Bulgaria, Germany, India and the United States, decommissioning could save around $32 billion per year in energy costs. Making the switch would also eliminate three gigatons of carbon emissions – 20% of what IRENA estimates is needed to keep global heating to a maximum 1.5 degrees Celsius this century.

The data

The latest edition of the report is based on data from around 20,000 renewables generation facilities worldwide which account for 1.9 TW of generation capacity, and on clean energy auction prices and power purchase agreements which add up to 582 GW of capacity. All the figures in the study exclude any form of subsidy and the authors point out, adding CCS to the world's overpriced coal plants would merely drive up their costs further.

IRENA has estimated all of Bulgaria and Germany‘s coal plants will this year cost electricity bill payers more than new renewables facilities would, based on a European carbon emissions price of €50 per ton. Even without an emissions trading scheme in the U.S. and India, the picture is similar, with 77-91% of American coal plants and 87-91% of Indian facilities also overpriced.

That conclusion is based on an estimated levelized cost of energy (LCOE) for solar power in India this year of $0.033/kWh, down from $0.038 last year; and of $0.031 in the States this year, although the report's authors note the solar module price has picked up between 1% and 9% in the first quarter of this year, thanks to shortages of raw materials such as polysilicon.

With the global LCOE of solar having fallen 7% from 2019 to last year, from $0.061 to $0.057/kWh, India led the world for low-price PV last year, with an average LCOE of $0.038/kWh for utility scale generation, ahead of China, with $0.044, and Spain, with $0.046. The authors noted Turkey also rapidly reduced average solar tariffs, to $0.052 last year, and Australia posted an average $0.057.

That translated into average solar project development costs of $596 per kilowatt installed in India, the world's lowest figure and down 8% from Indian costs in 2019. Solar projects in Vietnam came in to $949/kW and were only $796/kW in Spain last year, the report added. At the other end of the scale, projects in Russia cost $1,889/kW and, in Japan, $1,832, with those two countries exceptional among the 19 markets studied as the cost differences between areas from Canada (at $1,275/kW) down to India, were more evenly distributed.

Auction results posted last year, for projects expected to be commissioned this year and next, prompted IRENA to estimate the global average solar power price will fall to $0.039/kWh this year before rising slightly to $0.04 next year, which would still be a 30% fall on this year's figure and 27% less than the LCOE to be expected from new-build coal plants. With the predictions based on 18.8 GW of renewables capacity expected this year and 26.7 GW due in 2022, the study estimated 74% of the clean energy facilities expected this year and next will be cheaper than new fossil fuel generation sites.

Cheaper

Renewables are already making real headway, of course, with IRENA calculating 45.5 GW of the solar added last year was among the 62% of the 162 GW of clean energy facilities which were installed more cheaply than new-build coal plants.

Digging into the solar statistics, the report said mainstream solar panel costs in December ranged from $0.19 to $0.40 per Watt, for an average price of $0.27, with thin-film products averaging $0.28/W.

Operations and maintenance costs came in at an average of $17.80/kW last year in OECD countries and $9 elsewhere, in a year which also saw non-panel, balance-of-system equipment costs account for 65% of total project expense.

For residential solar arrays, average system prices in the 19 markets studied by IRENA ranged from $658/kW in India to $4,236 in California, for LCOE figures from $0.055/kWh in India to $0.236 in the U.K. For commercial systems, India was again the cheapest place to invest last year, at an average $651/kW, but a business in California would have to find $2,974/kW. Those system costs translated into LCOE numbers ranging between $0.055 in India and $0.19 in Massachusetts.

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).

Image: Siemens

Within Florida Power & Light’s (FPL) recently-filed four-year rate request with the Florida Public Service Commission is a commitment to “investments to build a more sustainable energy future.”

The pledge in the regulatory filing includes the utility’s “30-by-30” plan to install 30 million solar panels in Florida by 2030, as well as plans to build what the utility said would be the world’s largest integrated solar-powered battery and a green hydrogen pilot project.

The battery system is the Manatee Energy Storage Center, a 409 MW behemoth that could begin serving customers in late 2021. FPL’s Gulf Power unit said on Feb. 25 that it had begun construction on the project. The project is expected to help speed the retirement of aging natural gas units at a nearby power plant.

The green hydrogen pilot project was first announced by NextEra Energy, FPL’s parent company, in July 2020.

NextEra plans to invest $65 million into the pilot, which will use power from otherwise curtailed solar energy to produce green hydrogen via a 20 MW electrolysis system.

It’s worth noting that NextEra ranks as one of the nation’s largest solar and wind developers. So, although a 20 MW pilot may not initially move the needle toot much, NextEra’s vast wind and solar also comes with a lot of curtailed renewable generation. If the pilot proves successful and scalable, the company could look toward a serious buildout of more hydrogen producing facilities that could replace fossil fuels.

For now, the green hydrogen produced as part of the pilot would replace some of the natural gas combusted at FPL’s 1.75 GW Okeechobee power plant. Rather than build a new hydrogen plant, FPL is retrofitting an existing plant to accommodate the fuel source.

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).

The world already has a nascent hydrogen economy, according to IEEFA.

Image: Roy Luck/Flickr

The Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis (IEEFA) estimates there are 50 green hydrogen projects under development worldwide. Those projects, have a planned annual production capacity of 4 million tons of hydrogen and a total renewable power capacity of 50 GW, according to the Ohio-based thinktank, with their combined capital cost estimated at $75 billion.

In its Asia, Australia and Europe Leading Emerging Green Hydrogen Economy, but Project Delays Likely study, IEEFA said the projects announced represent an embryonic global green hydrogen economy.

“Most of these 50 projects are at an early stage, with just 14 having started construction and 34 at a study or memorandum-of-understanding stage,” the report noted. “However, many of the 50 newly-announced green hydrogen projects could face delays due to uncertain financing, cumbersome joint venture structures and unfavorable seaborne-trade economics.”

The study stated the majority of the projects announced will begin commercial operation in the middle of the decade, with large scale facilities starting up in 2022-23 and 2025-26.

The report’s authors said the hydrogen strategies of China, Japan and South Korea appear to prioritize hydrogen generated using natural gas – designated grey hydrogen, or blue if facilities are intended to feature carbon capture technology – rather than ‘green’ hydrogen generated using renewable energy. IEEFA described the €430 billion ($507 billion) hydrogen strategy of the European Union as the the most ambitious and purposeful energy transition policy to date.

“The EU’s hydrogen capex [capital expenditure] commitment far outweighs the commitment from Korea and Japan, reflecting the EU’s ambition to remodel its energy system and vertically integrate the hydrogen value chain with wind and solar power, electrolysis, distribution and applications,” stated the report.

Annual green hydrogen demand could reach 8.7 million tonnes by 2030, according to the IEEFA study, prompting a big supply shortfall given the current capacity of the project pipeline.

The report lists all publicized projects, including five facilities announced in the last two months – an 85 MW Nikola Motor Company plant in the U.S.; a 4 GW facility in Saudi Arabia planned by Air Products, Acwa Power and Neom; a 20 MW electrolyser being developed by U.S. energy company NextEra; a 100 MW solar park, storage facility and hydrogen production site in Puertollano, central Spain, by Iberdrola; and a 30 MW electrolyzer project by German consortium WestKüste100.

“There remains ample room for more hydrogen projects to meet global demand and further policy support will be necessary to grow this nascent industry,” added the report’s authors.

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The "Choose Renewable Hydrogen" initiative, led by the employers Solar Power Europe and WindEurope and currently formed by Akuo Energy, BayWa re, EDP, Enel, Iberdrola, MHI Vestas, Solar Power Europe, Ørsted, Vestas and Wind Europe, remitted this Monday a letter to the vice-president of the European Commission, Frans Timmermans asking the European Commission to bet on the "most efficient, sustainable and profitable" ways to decarbonise the economy.

Among the correct decisions for the next integration of Europe's energy system, the importance of green hydrogen stands out, which will play "a key role as the most profitable and sustainable solution for total decarbonisation".

In that sense, direct electrification is pointed out to be the main means to decarbonize heating and road transport, but there are other difficult sectors to eliminate, such as heavy industry, long-distance road transport, aviation and transport. maritime, where direct electrification is insufficient. Here, renewable hydrogen will play a key role as the most cost-effective and sustainable solution for complete decarbonization.

Clean hydrogen has been one of the topics highlighted in the EU's ecological recovery plans, which will be announced this Wednesday: according to the draft published by the portal specialized in European affairs EurActiv, there will be 1.3 billion for R + D + i and another 10 billion co-financing in the next decade , to minimize the risk of large projects, as well as a “commitment” to reach 1 million tons of this gas.

For its part, Iberdrola announced in mid-March that it will build one of the largest green hydrogen plants in Europe in Puertollano , with an investment of 150 million euros.

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).

Image: Horizon Power

The initiative urges that, amidst the COVID-19 health crisis and its economic implications, Europe prioritises the most efficient, sustainable, and cost-effective pathways to decarbonise its economy. Direct electrification will be the primary means for decarbonising heating and road transport, but there are other hard-to-abate sectors – such as  some heavy industry, long-haul road transport, aviation, and shipping – where direct electrification is insufficient. Here renewable hydrogen will play a key role as the most cost-effective and sustainable solution for full decarbonisation.

Hydrogen produced in Europe via electrolysers powered by 100% renewable electricity, such as solar and wind, has zero greenhouse gas emissions or other pollution, increases the EU’s energy security, and, when produced by grid-connected renewables, presents an optimised form of sector coupling.

Aurélie Beauvais, interim CEO of SolarPower Europe, said: “Renewable energy technologies are ready to form the backbone of the European Green Deal. They are cost-competitive, highly scalable and can provide fully sustainable hydrogen solutions to achieve the last mile of Europe’s decarbonisation. The upcoming “Energy system integration strategy” and “Clean hydrogen strategy” will be pivotal to enshrining the right decarbonisation pathways for Europe: they must build on the immense potential of renewable electricity, which will enhance sectoral integration, create millions of jobs and provide the sustainable hydrogen needed to modernise and decarbonise European industries.”

Giles Dickson, CEO WindEurope, said: “Renewables are nearly half our electricity now. But electricity is only a quarter of our total energy consumption. The rest is mostly fossil and less efficient than electricity. We need to electrify as much of this other energy as we can.  And wind will be key – the EU Commission and IEA say it will be half of Europe’s electricity by 2050. But we cannot electrify everything. Some industrial processes and heavy transport will have to run on gas. And renewable hydrogen is the best gas. It is completely clean. It will be affordable with renewables being so cheap now. And it will be energy made in Europe creating jobs and growth in Europe. Hydrogen in the Recovery Package? Yes, but make it renewable hydrogen!”

The “Choose Renewable Hydrogen” initiative currently includes 10 companies and associations: Akuo Energy, BayWa r.e., EDP, Enel, Iberdrola, MHI Vestas, SolarPower Europe, Ørsted, Vestas and WindEurope. Learn more about the campaign at www.choose-renewable-hydrogen.eu and join the conversation on social media using #RenewableHydrogen.

https://www.pv-magazine.com/press-releases/renewable-hydrogen-is-key-to-unlocking-the-complete-decarbonisation-of-european-industries/

Renewable energy makes sense of hydrogen.

Image: Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO)

This morning Federal Government Ministers Mathias Cormann and Angus Taylor announced a $300 million Advancing Hydrogen Fund in terms of a panacea:

“From cheaper energy bills and job creation in regional Australia, to playing a role in reducing global emissions both at home and in countries that buy Australian produced hydrogen, the industry’s potential cannot be ignored,” said Energy and Emissions Reduction Minister Taylor in the joint announcement.

The fund is designed to mesh with priorities under the national Hydrogen Strategy and as such will back areas that advance hydrogen production, developing export and domestic supply chains, establishing hydrogen hubs and building domestic demand for hydrogen.

Just a month ago, BloombergNEF released a report, Hydrogen Economy Outlook, which concluded that only a widespread global commitment to net zero emissions could generate the kind of investment — it calculated the need for US$150 billion in cumulative subsidies to 2030 — required to bring down the cost of producing hydrogen and make it competitive with other fuels.

Hydrogen is not a free kick

“Once you set a net zero target, and are serious about putting policies and measures in place to achieve that, then hydrogen becomes a necessary option,” Kobad Bavhnagri, Global Head of Industrial Decarbonisation at BNEF and lead author of the report, told pv magazine at the end of March.

“If you don’t have that clarity and that purpose,” Bhavnagri continued, “then actually there’s no need to do hydrogen and it won’t stand up.” A higher cost, less convenient energy source than fossil fuels such as coal, gas and oil, hydrogen only starts to make sense when the demand is created for a zero-emissions alternative.

Bhavnagri explained that development of hydrogen is a global task. It requires mass participation to achieve the economies of scale that will make hydrogen viable.

Based on fuel prices in March, the Hydrogen Economy Outlook estimated, for example, that if the electrolysers used to produce hydrogen from water (one method of hydrogen production that lends itself to using renewable energy to power the process of atom splitting) could be driven dramatically down in cost by demand and manufacturing efficiencies, renewable hydrogen could be produced for US$0.8 to US$1.6/kg by 2050. This was then equivalent to gas priced at US$6-12/MMBtu, making it competitive with natural gas.

Australia’s Federal Government has set the open-ended goal — dubbed ‘H2 under 2’ — of producing hydrogen for AU$2 a kilogram as part of its as yet unreleased but much anticipated Technology Investment Roadmap.

Its $300 million Advancing Hydrogen Fund is to be administered by the Clean Energy Finance Corporation (CEFC), which this morning welcomed the announcement of its amended mandate to make the $300 million available from its existing funds. 

“We are confident we can use our capital to help build investor confidence in the emerging hydrogen sector,” said CEFC CEO, Ian Learmonth.

It’s not easy staying green

This morning’s CEFC statement also emphasised that, “In line with the CEFC Act, projects seeking CEFC finance through the Advancing Hydrogen Fund are required to be commercial, draw on renewable energy, energy efficiency and/or low emissions technologies and contribute to emissions reduction.”

The CEFC says that from the allocated Advancing Hydrogen Fund it anticipates providing either debt or equity finance to eligible larger-scale commercial and industrial projects likely to require $10 million or more in CEFC capital, alongside finance raised from other sources.

CEFC identifies an early priority for funding to coincide with the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) $70 million Renewable Hydrogen Deployment Fund. 

This ARENA funding round opened on 15 April, and expressions of interest are currently set to close on 26 May. Outcomes are expected to be announced on 30 November this year.

“We see green hydrogen as offering the most credible pathway to decarbonisation for high emitting sectors and those which lack scaleable electrification options,” said CEFC’s Learmonth. CEFC identifies some of these sectors as manufacturing, heavy transport such as trucks and shipping, mining, processing of metals and production of chemicals.

Exports going nowhere: use it on shore

One clear point of departure between BNEF’s Hydrogen Economy Outlook and the stated ambitions of the Government Advancing Hydrogen Fund is in relation to hydrogen as an export industry for Australia.

Cormann describes the Fund as a “catalyst for the future growth of Australia’s hydrogen industry,” which has the potential to become “a major new export industry”. Taylor adds the commitment made in the National Hydrogen Strategy, launched in November last year, “to build Australia’s hydrogen industry into a global export industry by 2030”.

Bhavnagri, on the other hand, found in his BNEF report that, “the economics of exporting hydrogen by ship are very poor”.

He told pv magazine, “This narrative about Australia being able to export hydrogen is a bit misplaced … Hydrogen is not like natural gas; it’s far less dense and has a liquefaction temperature much lower than natural gas, so it’s just much harder to put on a ship in a liquefied state — it’s really expensive to do.”

He concluded that “Australia can be a hydrogen superpower by using it onshore and exporting value-added products.”

Both the Australian Government and BNEF champion the establishment of hydrogen hubs, with BNEF explaining the efficiencies that such developments could offer: hubs might include clusters of wind-and-solar-powered electrolysers, and large storage facilities to smooth and buffer hydrogen supply, served by networks of dedicated pipelines feeding hydrogen to co-located industrial customers. 

Renewable resource can make Australia’s hydrogen the cheapest

Writing in BNEF’s Hydrogen Economy Outlook, Bhavnagri notes: “Our analysis suggests that a delivered cost of green hydrogen of around US$2/kg in 2030 and US$1/kg in 2050” is achievable in China, India and Western Europe. Countries with the best renewable and hydrogen storage resources, such as Australia, could achieve 20-25% reductions on these costs.

But BNEF cautions that even at US$1/kg the use of hydrogen in place of fossil fuels is still likely to require a carbon price or other policy measures to make it the most attractive option: “This is because hydrogen must be manufactured, whereas natural gas, coal and oil need only to be extracted, so it is likely to always be a more expensive form of energy.”

Ultimately Bhavnagri is optimistic about the potential for hydrogen to help decarbonise the planet, and to open new opportunities for green manufacturing in Australia that could significantly boost employment opportunities.

Signs of hydrogen life

The Hydrogen Economy Outlook said investors keen to be involved in hydrogen projects should look out for evidence of seven key events that signal opportunity for green hydrogen to scale as needed to provide a viable alternative to fossil fuels, and act as an accelerator to decarbonisation . In order of importance, the first three indications are:

1. Legislation of net-zero climate targets
2. Harmonisation of international standards governing hydrogen use
3. Introduction of targets with investment mechanisms

We now have an investment mechanism, administered by a trusted body which has previously facilitated almost $28 billion worth of clean-energy projects in Australia since its inception in mid-2012, but this investment seems still untethered from Government political will and policy needed to reach net zero emissions within a timeframe that will help global citizens avoid the next looming threat to our lives. Prosperity assumes a healthy planet.

Schedule a call with us to see how Green Hydrogen can help take you further.

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).

The project includes the modification of two transport service stations to supply hydrogen.

Image: Griffith University

Chinese coal miner Baofeng Energy has announced the start of construction of what it claims will be the world’s largest solar-powered hydrogen plant, in the Ningxia Hui autonomous region of northwest China.

The RMB1.4 billion ($199 million) electrolysis project is intended to produce 160 million cubic meters of hydrogen per year plus 80 million cubic meters of oxygen. Baofeng said the use of solar electricity to power the facility would save 254,000 tons of coal consumption annually, leading to a 445,000-ton reduction in carbon emissions.

The project will feature two 10,000m³/hr electrolyzers powered by two 100 MW solar plants plus a 1,000kg/day hydrogenation station and two petrol stations will be converted to also supply natural gas and hydrogen for transport purposes. The solar panels will be installed over wolfberry and alfalfa crops which will generate extra revenue, according to Baofeng.

Work on the project started this month and is slated for completion this year, with hydrogen production to start next year.

Baofeng is also working on a coking co-generation plant to produce three million tons of coal-based coke per year, plus 1.2 billion cubic meters of hydrogen.

Interested in learning more about the benefits of green hydrogen? Schedule a call with us here: 

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).

The project will be the first hydrogen injection experience in a real gas network in Spain with support for small-scale electrical storage, and will be carried out at the Enagás regasification plant in Cartagena.

Image: Enagás

Gas multinational Enagás and Ampere Energy, a Spain-based battery provider, have signed an agreement to begin joint production of hydrogen with solar power and energy stored in batteries.

The two companies will jointly work on several R&D projects to produce renewable hydrogen for self-consumption at the gas plant.

The project they are now planning will be the first hydrogen injection experience into a gas network in Spain, with small-scale storage as a back-up. It will be carried out at the regasification plant that Enagás operates in Cartagena, in the southern province of Murcia.

Ampere Energy has installed its Ampere Energy Square S 6.5 equipment at the Cartagena plant, which will have new storage and intelligent energy management solutions.

The installed equipment will allow Enagás to maximize the energy efficiency of the Cartagena gasification plant and reduce the environmental impact and its electricity bill up to 70%, according to the two companies.

The battery will store energy coming from both the photovoltaic system and the power grid, and will monitor this energy. Through machine learning algorithms and data analysis tools, the system will anticipate the consumption patterns of the plant, predict the available solar resource, and track prices in the electricity market, identifying the moments in which the cost is lower.

“This alliance opens the door to a long-term pact between Ampere Energy and Enagás to undertake joint R&D projects for energy storage and services,” both companies added.

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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).

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.

The Denham hydrogen plant will be powered by solar.

Image: Horizon Power

The coastal town on Denham could be on the way to become zero emissions thanks to a green hydrogen demonstration project proposed by WA’s regional utility Horizon Power. The hydrogen plant powered by solar energy will supplement existing wind turbines, which already produce 60% of the town’s electricity.

Located in the Shark Bay World Heritage Area, Denham’s existing power supply is a combination of a Horizon Power owned and operated diesel facility, and a Synergy wind farm. Both assets are aging and in need of replacement.

Horizon Power has sought expressions of interest from companies for the supply of the hydrogen electrolyser and fuel cell and to design and construct of the plant. It is also looking at state and federal funding for the trial, while supporting the State Government’s Renewable Hydrogen Strategy by investigating the possibility of demonstrating the use of hydrogen as a future source of energy for the town.

“As part of our commitment to deliver cleaner, greener energy to our regional customers, we want to investigate the potential to develop a hydrogen demonstration plant to test the suitability and capability of hydrogen as a renewable energy source for electricity generation in the future,” Horizon Power Chief Executive Officer Stephanie Unwin said.

If the project is determined to be viable, construction would begin in February 2021. “Proving the reliability of such a hydrogen plant provides the opportunity to expand the plant to supply the full power requirements for the town in the future,” Urwin added.

Last year, the WA Government launched a strategy to set course for the state’s renewable hydrogen future with a focus on four strategic investment areas: export, use of renewable hydrogen in remote applications, blending in the gas network and use in transport. To support projects on ground, the authority last month opened a $10 million Renewable Hydrogen Fund and made cash available to feasibility studies, demonstration or capital works projects, to facilitate private investment.

Last week, the state government set aside $1.68 million in funding from the Renewable Hydrogen Fund toward the support of seven renewable hydrogen feasibility studies, including an electrolysis production plant and solar hydrogen for waste collection.

“Western Australia needs to explore how we can produce, use and provide energy to our international partners through clean and reliable sources – renewable energy via hydrogen provides a means to do this,” Regional Development Minister Alannah MacTiernan said. She noted the government received 19 feasibility study applications of which it chose seven, which confirmed the strong interest of developing a renewable hydrogen industry in WA.

On the ground, Canadian gas giant ATCO is already blending renewable hydrogen into the on-site natural gas network at its solar and battery hydrogen innovation hub in 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.

Last year, a massive green hydrogen production project was unveiled for Western Australia with Siemens on board as technology partner. The project proposed by Hydrogen Renewables Australia (HRA) aims to produce green hydrogen for local industry and export to Asia from up to 5,000 MW of combined wind and solar capacity.

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 ).