The state government of Western Australia has announced AUD 1.68 million ($1.15 million) in funding from its AUD 10 million Renewable Hydrogen Fund to support seven renewable hydrogen feasibility studies, including an electrolysis production plant and solar hydrogen for waste collection.
The AUD 1.68 million allocation will fund studies including the creation of solar hydrogen for waste collection and light vehicle fleets, a hydrogen refuelling hub, and the potential for an electrolysis hydrogen production plant. The potential hydrogen production plant, proposed by applicant ATCO Australia, received a AUD 375,000 feasibility study grant. The applicant is proposing a 10 MW electrolysis hydrogen production plant.
Regional Development Minister Alannah MacTiernan said the state government received 19 feasibility study applications. It eventually chose seven of them, but the process itself confirmed the strong interest of developing a renewable hydrogen industry in Western Australia, he said.
Other potential outcomes of these studies include a 100% renewable energy power plant for an indigenous community in the Pilbara, the potential compatibility of the Dampier-to-Bunbury natural gas transmission pipeline with blended hydrogen, and the possible integration of renewable hydrogen with remote power stations.
The standalone system for the state's remote Pilbara indigenous community would be a hybrid solar PV-battery-hydrogen system for the generation of a community microgrid, if the Murdoch University feasibility study finds it to be feasible.
“Western Australia needs to explore how we can produce, use and provide energy to our international partners through clean and reliable sources – renewable energy via hydrogen provides a means to do this,” MacTiernan said.
The state government’s Renewable Hydrogen Fund seeks to push Western Australia toward becoming a major renewable hydrogen producer, user and exporter.
By Blake Matich
This content is protected by copyright and may not be reused. If you want to cooperate with us and would like to reuse some of our content, please contact: editors@pv-magazine.com.
By submitting this form you agree to pv magazine using your data for the purposes of publishing your comment.
Your personal data will only be disclosed or otherwise transmitted to third parties for the purposes of spam filtering or if this is necessary for technical maintenance of the website. Any other transfer to third parties will not take place unless this is justified on the basis of applicable data protection regulations or if pv magazine is legally obliged to do so.
You may revoke this consent at any time with effect for the future, in which case your personal data will be deleted immediately. Otherwise, your data will be deleted if pv magazine has processed your request or the purpose of data storage is fulfilled.
Further information on data privacy can be found in our Data Protection Policy.