A major delegation of 35 Australian hydrogen companies will attend the World Hydrogen Summit (WHS) in Rotterdam 9-11 May 2023.
“We are excited to return to Rotterdam for the second year with an even larger Australian delegation than last year. It demonstrates Australia’s seriousness and ambition to become a global hydrogen super power,” says Annika Barton, Trade and Investment Commissioner at the Australian Trade and Investment Commission (Austrade).
“We are bringing together 35 Australian companies, from major Australian project developers to innovative Australian companies leading the way in commercialisation of hydrogen technologies. The partnerships formed at this Summit will drive offtake of green hydrogen for the next decade.”
In 2022, Australia became the first country in the world to export liquefied hydrogen. Australia is expected to become the second largest net-exporter of low-emissions hydrogen by 2030 and the largest by 2050.
Australia's hydrogen investment pipeline of A$230-300 billion (€140-180 billion) represents approximately 40 per cent of all global renewable hydrogen projects announced to date.
Australia’s abundant sunshine and wind make it an ideal location to generate green hydrogen using clean energy. Australia has a long history as a trusted, reliable energy and resources exporter, enabling it to become a global hydrogen leader.
Australia’s Edify Energy has successfully overseen the development, structuring, financing and delivery of 773 MWp of utility scale solar projects and a 25 MW/50 MWh battery energy storage system in NSW, Victoria and Queensland. Edify has partnered with Siemens Energy Global GmbH on its first green hydrogen project, EGH2.
John Cole, CEO of Edify Energy says, “Ultimately, we want to see vast volumes of green hydrogen exported from Townsville, Australia. So one of the important features of this project is its ability to scale which will help us meet the need of the market.”
EGH2 will also involve applied research collaborations with universities in Australia and Germany. Earlier this year, the project was awarded conditional funding through the HyGATE Incubator Initiative.
Australian companies are developing highly innovative technology across the renewable hydrogen value chain. These innovations receive considerable interest from industry around the world.
Australia’s H2X Global applies its hydrogen fuel cell technology to deliver zero-emission vehicles. Brendan Norman, CEO of H2X Global says, “With our extensive experience in car manufacturing, we have now partnered with Norwegian Hydrogen to create a single channel for production and purchase of green hydrogen, distribution and hydrogen refuelling stations.”
H2X Global’s prototype pickup truck, the Warrego, is already on the road in the Netherlands.
Provaris Energy develops vessels and floating bulk-scale storage solutions that hold compressed green hydrogen. Last month, the Australian company launched its floating hydrogen storage solution. The vessel will have a capacity range to store 300–600 tonnes of compressed hydrogen.
Martin Carolan, CEO of Provaris Energy says, “the compression technology is not new. It has been used for onshore storage applications for fifty years. What is unique is the idea of using compression to transport hydrogen in large-scale containment tanks which are integrated into a standard MR or LR tanker.”
Provaris has announced collaborations with European energy partners to develop a green hydrogen supply chain for delivery to key ports in Europe that are hydrogen ready.
Australian company Hazer Group is commercialising a novel method for producing low-emission hydrogen from methane. The process creates graphite as a by-product, which is a solid form of carbon, rather than waste CO2. Glenn Corrie, CEO and Managing Director of Hazer Group says, “Hazer’s Commercial Demonstration Plant (CDP) expects to produce hydrogen in the second half of 2023.”
Another advantage of the HAZER® Process is that it can be inserted into existing LNG supply chains and infrastructure. “That’s really key,’ says Corrie. “You can produce hydrogen where the demand is. It is effectively a plug-in technology to add to an existing carbon-intensive processing facility such as a refinery or steel plant.”
Hazer has projects planned or underway with partners including ENGIE in France, Suncor and FortisBC Energy in Canada.
The Australian Government has committed close to A$1.6 billion to accelerate hydrogen industry development.
“We are proactively developing international supply chains through multiple international partnerships, including with Germany and the Netherlands,” says Ms Barton.
The Australia-Germany Hydrogen Accord signed in 2021 aims to accelerate the development the hydrogen industry. In January 2023, four new joint projects under the German-Australia Hydrogen Innovation and Technology Incubator (HyGATE). HyGATE was committed under the Accord.
Also in January 2023, Australia and the Netherlands signed an MoU to collaborate on building a hydrogen supply chain from Australia to Europe via the Port of Rotterdam.
Download the World Hydrogen Summit Australian Hydrogen Directory.