Australian Clean Hydrogen Trade Program to help local supply chain attract overseas investors
The new initiative is aimed at attracting overseas investment into hydrogen supply chains originating in Australia
The $150 million Australian Clean Hydrogen Trade Program (ACHTP) will support Australian-based hydrogen supply chain projects that secure overseas public or private sector investment.
The Program will be funded over five years from the $565.8 million committed for low emissions technology international partnerships in the 2021-22 Budget, actioning Australia’s commitment to reducing emissions by working with other countries to get the cost of clean energy technologies down.
The first round of the Program will focus on the export of clean hydrogen to Japan under the Japan-Australia Partnership on Decarbonisation through Technology.
In a world first, Australian-made hydrogen is currently being shipped from Victoria to Japan following the departure of The Suiso Frontier, a specially-built carrier loaded with super-cooled liquid hydrogen as part of the Hydrogen Energy Supply Chain (HESC) pilot project.
Minister for Resources and Water Keith Pitt said the HESC project combined a number of technology elements, including a new way to produce 225,000 tonnes of clean hydrogen a year using Latrobe Valley coal.
“The HESC project demonstrates the importance that Australian resources, such as local Latrobe Valley coal, will have in development of new low emissions industries,” Minister Pitt said.
“Australia’s resources and energy exports are estimated to reach $379 billion in the current financial year and to continue to support Australia’s economic growth and jobs, particularly in regional Australia.”
The Government is investing more than $1.3 billion to accelerate the development of Australia’s hydrogen industry, including $464 million to develop clean hydrogen industrial hubs in regional Australia, including a potential hub in the Latrobe valley.
Australian hydrogen production for export and domestic use could also generate more than $50 billion in additional GDP by 2050, directly support 16,000 jobs plus an additional 13,000 jobs from the construction of related renewable energy infrastructure.
