June 24, 2021 • Paul Rodden • Season: 2021 • Episode: 23
Welcome to The Hydrogen Podcast!
In episode 023, New hydrogen fuel generation and refueling operation is underway in Australia, Australia and Germany signed a hydrogen accord to boost lower emissions technologies. Australia and Singapore partner on maritime hydrogen and Australia warms to green hydrogen amid Japanese demand. All of this on today’s down under focused hydrogen podcast.
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Transcript:
New hydrogen fuel generation and refueling operation is underway in Australia, Australia and Germany signed a hydrogen accord to boost lower emissions technologies. Australia and Singapore partner on maritime hydrogen and Australia warms to green hydrogen amid Japanese demand. All of this on today’s down under focused hydrogen podcast.
So the big questions in the energy industry today are how is hydrogen the primary driving force behind the evolution of energy? Where is capital being deployed for hydrogen projects globally? And where are the best investment opportunities for early adopters recognize the importance of hydrogen? I will address the critical issues and give you the information you need to deploy capital. Those are the questions that will unlock the potential of hydrogen and this podcast will give you the answers. My name is Paul Rodden and welcome to the hydrogen podcast.
Okay, so to kick off today’s Australian focused hydrogen podcast, I wanted to focus in on a great press release to come out of hydrogen fuels Australia h2 fa that they are launching Australia’s first modular hydrogen production and integrated fuel cell EV refueling operation at its Greenfield facility in Truganina near Laverton, Victoria. Now this facility which will be completely self sufficient, it will be its own island, disconnected from any energy grid, and in a quote from Francesco Ceravolo, who is the managing director of h2 fa. We are proud to be launching Australia’s first modular hydrogen fuel generation and commercial refueling business. We are passionate about employing the unique attributes of hydrogen as a circular environmentally responsible fuel source to power the next generation of commercial vehicles in Australia.
Hydrogen fuels Australia is also partnering with some of the world’s leading suppliers of industrial hydrogen equipment through its work with sky industries. H2FA will utilize Sweden’s Nilsen energies RE8760 technology to manage the site microgrid, allowing all facilities to operate as an island and be completely self sufficient. contained within the Nilsen energy solution is a critical equipment from Green Hydrogen Systems. They’re out of Denmark, designers and manufacturers of efficient modular electrolyzers to produce hydrogen.
Well, Plug Power will provide power to the site, rainwater will be used for the electrolysis process. All necessary equipment has been ordered, and pending permits will be operational in February of 2022. Initially, the five hector site will be capable of producing 60 to 90 kilograms of green hydrogen. But eventually after scaling up should produce approximately 3000 kilograms with capacity to fuel 100 plus vehicles per day. And now let’s talk about a hydrogen accord signed between Australia and Germany to boost lower emissions technologies. According to reuters.com, Australia and Germany signed a bilateral alliance on hydrogen production and trade to try to facilitate a renewable energy based hydrogen supply chain between the two countries. And through this accord, big energy firms in Germany including RWE and Univer, are starting to look at possible new trade routes for hydrogen.
Now of the European countries, Germany may have one of the biggest, if not the biggest thirst for hydrogen, so much so that their $10.9 billion hydrogen strategy launched last summer, which is embedded in wider European Union strategies, and is based on assumptions that some 80% of its hydrogen requirements may have to be imported in the long term. Because of that Germany has put out feelers to Saudi Arabia, Canada, Chile and Morocco for possible suppliers. Australia also said it was joining hands with Japan to support initiatives that would help drive their respective economies and their transition to net zero emissions. And as I mentioned before, Australia is really leading the way in hydrogen export, especially green hydrogen export, and this further solidifies the edge that Australia is making in terms of growing their hydrogen export economy. And speaking of the Australia Japanese hydrogen trade market, it was announced in May 27, that Australia could supply Japan with 1 million tonnes of green hydrogen a year by 2030.
And because Australia is leading the way in hydrogen exports, they’re looking at they could add an $11 billion boost to the economy by 2050, maybe even as much as $26 billion. That again depends on how quickly global demand grows. Stanwell Corporation, which is a Queensland Government owned energy company, is working with Japan’s biggest hydrogen supplier Iwatani Corp. On a project that aims to start shipping liquid green hydrogen to Japan in 2026. And with Queensland’s vast renewable infrastructure, they’re looking to use three gigawatts of electricity to scale up To 280,000 tonnes of hydrogen produced by 2030. And while their export goals are ambitious, they’ll need production with these numbers to match their export goals. And in Western Australia, Norway’s Yara International ASA and France’s NG this month, won support from the government for a project to produce ammonia from green hydrogen.
They plan to start producing up to 625 tons of green hydrogen and 3700 tons of green ammonia a year by 2023. With a 10 megawatt electrolyzer by 2028, they aim to scale up to one gigawatt of electrolyzer capacity. Now, at the same time, Yara is working with Japanese power joint venture Gera to supply green ammonia for power plants. But like with so many other green hydrogen projects, everything boils down to the economics. And right now the cost is to drop to 80 to 90% for electrolyzers in order for them to reach hydrogen under $2 a kilogram and the only ways that will happen in the near future will be through either government incentives, new technologies that drop the price of electrolyzers, or new technologies to make electrolyzers more efficient, most likely will be a combination of the three, but it’s going to have to happen fast if countries like Japan who want to import hydrogen want to get their hydrogen for a fair market price.
And furthering the bond between Australia and Asia, Australia and Singapore have now signed an agreement to collaborate on a $30 million dollar project to support the adoption of hydrogen and other low carbon fuels and technology in the maritime sector, aiming to drive down emissions in shipping and port operations. In an article from Argusmedia.com. Australia is looking to work together with partners around the world to make clean energy more affordable and reliable. This according to Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison, as he said during a visit to Singapore the week of June 10.
The agreement with Singapore is part of the Australian Government’s nearly 566 million Australian dollar plan to build international technology partnerships that make low emission technologies cheaper and drive investments in Australia based projects, which are expected to create up to 2500 jobs. The two countries which previously signed an initial agreement on low emission technologies and solutions are actively looking to build infrastructure for clean hydrogen, clean ammonia, and other hydrogen derivatives, especially in shipping and port operations. Singapore so far has invested in mainly LNG as an alternative bunker fuel, but it’s actively supporting the maritime industry to develop other solutions such as biofuels, green ammonia, methanol, and hydrogen. The Port of Singapore is the world’s largest bunkering hub. And the city state is positioning itself as a leader in the race to decarbonize the maritime sector.
Okay, so big things coming out of Australia. And with their main focus being on renewable derived hydrogen. Now, only time will tell if investing so heavily into green hydrogen will be worthwhile. When in the near term, other technologies will produce hydrogen at a much lower price point, even when including the utilization of the carbon that’s captured. So if Australia and energy companies working in Australia really want to push renewable derived hydrogen, they are going to have to find a way to drop costs significantly. And I’m not saying it can’t be done, but there will have to be a lot of effort focused on driving those economies of scale down. Okay, that’s it for me, everyone. If you have any questions or comments about today’s episode, come visit me at my website at thehydrogenpodcast.com and leave a question or comment. I would really love to hear from you. And as always, take care. Stay safe. I’ll talk to you later.
Hey, this is Paul. I hope you liked this podcast. If you did and want to hear more. I’d appreciate it if you would either subscribe to this channel on YouTube, or connect with your favorite platform through my website at www.thehydrogenpodcast.com. Thanks for listening I very much appreciate it. Have a great day.
