A new report has found Australia is well on the way to becoming a world leader in the production of affordable and clean hydrogen by 2030, creating thousands of new jobs and boosting economic activity in regional areas.
The inaugural State of Hydrogen report provides a snapshot of Australia’s progress against global developments since the National Hydrogen Strategy was released in 2019.
The report shows that actions from the Commonwealth, state and territory governments and industry have allowed Australia to make significant progress on priority actions, with a world leading pipeline of clean hydrogen projects.
Minister for Industry, Energy and Emissions Reduction Angus Taylor said Australia’s rapidly growing hydrogen industry is well positioned to take advantage of global momentum to unlock cheap, clean energy.
“The inaugural State of Hydrogen report confirms we are already making significant progress towards the Australia’s shared vision to become a major global player in hydrogen by 2030,” Minister Taylor said.
“Make no mistake – we are world leading. Australia has the largest pipeline of announced clean hydrogen projects in the world, a very significant achievement,” he said.
“These projects are helping us to grow our capability and overcome expected challenges as we set out to reach our hydrogen production goal of $2 per kilogram.
“I know from my ongoing conversations with potential international customers in countries such as Korea and Japan that the demand for Australian hydrogen is strong. The Government will continue to focus on reducing the cost of hydrogen to meet customer needs.”
As is to be anticipated in the development of any new industry, the report notes that progress has been slower on demand-side indicators. The expected barriers facing the industry include reducing hydrogen delivery costs, building demand and achieving low-cost hydrogen production at scale.
This is expected given the early state of the industry and the higher cost of clean hydrogen compared to traditional alternatives currently being used. The Government will accelerate the industry’s development and support local demand through the $464 million Clean Hydrogen Industrial Hubs program.
The Government has also committed funding of $565.8 million the 2021-2022 Budget to establish low emissions technology partnerships. New low emissions technology partnerships have already been secured with Singapore, Germany, Japan, the United Kingdom and the Republic of Korea to help accelerate the deployment of hydrogen and build supply chains with these countries.
The first State of Hydrogen report is available online: https://industry.gov.au/StateOfHydrogen2021
