PERTH (miningweekly.com) – Australia is on track to become a world leader in hydrogen production by 2030, a new report has found.

The Department of Industry, Science, Energy and Resources this week released the inaugural 'State of Hydrogen' report, providing a snapshot of Australia’s progress against global developments since the National Hydrogen Strategy was released in 2019.

The report shows that actions by 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 Australia’s shared vision to become a major global player in hydrogen by 2030,” 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. These projects are helping us to grow our capability and overcome expected challenges as we set out to reach our hydrogen production goal of A$2/kg.

“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. Taylor said that the government will accelerate the industry’s development and support local demand through the A$464-million Clean Hydrogen Industrial Hubs programme. 

“Widespread global adoption of clean hydrogen will require sustained effort to mitigate the three biggest barriers facing industry globally, not just in Australia, including building demand, achieving low-cost hydrogen production at scale and reducing delivery costs.

“Like any nascent industry there will be challenges, and it is to be expected that demand-side indicators have slower progress than the supply side. It will take time to lower costs and to build export supply chains. Australian governments are next focusing on how to build up Australia’s demand for hydrogen products, with the strategy laying out the pathway to achieve our vision,” Taylor said in the report.

The Minister said that the government had also committed funding of A$565.8-million the 2021/22 Budget to establish low emissions technology partnerships.

New low emissions technology partnerships have already been secured with Singapore, Germany, Japan, the UK and the Republic of Korea to help accelerate the deployment of hydrogen and build supply chains with these countries.