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IIn March, the Queensland University of Technology made history by making the first export of a small amount of clean, green hydrogen produced in Australia from renewable sources to the Japanese giant. JXTG energy – proving it was possible.
Hydrogen is increasingly seen as an alternative to LNG and other fossil fuels, and Australia has a lot to gain from a new export sector, companies such as Woodside. Energy and Siemens already investing.
Every year, the world consumes 55 million tonnes of hydrogen, a figure that is expected to increase significantly over the next decade. As countries such as Japan and South Korea adopt hydrogen to rapidly decarbonize their economies in response to climate change, global demand is expected to increase by 8 million tonnes by 2030 and about 35 million tonnes by 2040.
Although hydrogen is used in the manufacture of glbad, steel and fertilizers, the greatest demand is likely to come from its use as fuel for hydrogen-powered electric cars, long-haul heavy transport and public transport such as than buses.
And although Australia may not be able to manufacture these vehicles, it could become a primary producer of hydrogen.. The only thing that stands in the way is the pace at which it adopts technology and strengthens its industrial capacity over the next few years.
Until now, the main obstacle has been the political will. This seemed to have been resolved in February when the Coalition announced the organization of public consultations on the creation of a new industry before the next election.
Similarly, workers have earmarked $ 1 billion in funding for the Clean Energy Finance Corporation to develop clean technologies for hydrogen and an additional $ 90 million for the Australian Renewable Energy Agency for research.
Support for a clean hydrogen industry has been long in coming. In August 2018, Dr. Alan Finkel, Chief Scientist of Australia, published a national hydrogen roadmap explaining how Australia could develop a hydrogen export industry.
Finkel's plan was adopted by COAG and the 30 companies currently working on hydrogen projects in Australia knew they had a future.
Dr. Fiona Beck, theoretical physicist working with a team from ANU, recently awarded $ 10 million to conduct a comprehensive research on creating a hydrogen export industry in Canada. Asia Pacific. She compared the current state of hydrogen to the beginnings of solar energy.
"With hydrogen, we really feel at the moment that it's not just researchers and technologists who talk about it. There is alignment. The perfect storm, "said Beck.
She said that in the past, hydrogen had faced objections from people claiming that it was just not possible. Technology, like solar technology, has been around since the 1970s, but it is only with increasing awareness of climate change and the need for a transition that technology has begun to become a focus of technology. increased attention.
A hydrogen powered bus is refueled at a depot in London. Photo: Graeme Robertson / The Guardian
In general, there are currently three ways to produce hydrogen. The brown hydrogen is produced when the element is extracted from fossil fuels such as coal, while blue hydrogen is produced from gas. The green hydrogen is produced from an electric current flowing through the water using an electrolyser powered by a renewable energy such as solar.
While the current policy is focused on the production of blue hydrogen, the technology needed to produce, store and transport green hydrogen on a large scale quickly improves.
Peter Coleman, CEO of Woodside Petroleum, said that blue hydrogen is currently the cheapest to produce and that, although he did not see exports increasing before 2030, the company was already planning.
"The technology is ready today but has not been widely deployed in Australia," Coleman said. "We view the production and export of hydrogen as potentially adjacent to our core business, LNG. We are also ideally placed to produce hydrogen in northwestern Australia, where we have access to abundant sunlight for solar energy.
"Blue hydrogen is the key to scaling up and reducing the costs of hydrogen transportation and distribution, which will allow for a faster transition to renewable green hydrogen, produced by electrolysis of water, powered by renewable energies. The sooner we can change, the sooner we can reduce emissions. "
Martin Hablutzel, head of Siemens' strategy – whose electrolysers manufacturers, the main equipment needed to produce zero-carbon hydrogen – said that the company welcomed the bipartisan support given to the industry and that the demand for the company's equipment is increasing.
"What we need now is that Australia accelerate the processing of large scale green hydrogen projects and that governments clearly play a role in supporting this great new industry as it moves forward. place, "said Hablutzel.
While their electrolysers were previously only able to turn kilowatts of renewable energy into clean hydrogen, the company now manufactures larger scale devices.
Siemens will soon deliver a 1.25 MW unit to the Tonsley Innovation District in South Australia. It also offers another unit capable of increasing beyond 10 MW, with plans for newer hardware capable of producing three-digit numbers.
Other companies do not wait either. Yara Pilbara operates a fertilizer plant on the Burrup Peninsula in Australia's Far North, and starts commercializing hydrogen production in partnership with France's Engie. Hydrogen is a key fertilizer ingredient and its general manager, Chris Rijkson, said the company sees it as a way to decarbonize its range.
Yara Pilbara, originally planned to build a test site about a year ago, has chosen to move directly to the construction of a 100 MW green-energy, hydrogen-fired power plant. solar and equipped with a 66 MW electrolyser. If successful, it would be the first in the world.
"[With this] we could make our product portfolio carbon-neutral in the future, "said Rijkson. "On top of that, Yara is studying other options to produce fuel in the future."
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