Australia opens USD-44m funding round for green hydrogen

The Australian government has launched an AUD-70-million (USD 44.3m/EUR 40.6m) funding round aimed at supporting the large-scale deployment of renewable hydrogen capacity in the country.

The initiative, announced by the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) on Wednesday, will support two or more large-scale electrolyser projects of at least 5 MW, with "a preference" for installations of 10 MW or more. They must use electricity from renewable energy sources, either directly or through power purchase agreements or the purchase of large-scale generation certificates.

The goal of the funding round is to fast track the development of renewable hydrogen projects, in line with the government’s intention to create “an innovative, safe and competitive hydrogen industry” and help reduce the costs of electrolyser installations.

“With this significant investment we expect to take the sector to the next level. We’ve supported a range of feasibility studies and pilot projects over the past two years, but now we need to start the journey of producing hydrogen at scale,” said ARENA’s CEO Darren Miller.

The competition is open to projects across a range of industries and end-uses. ARENA will select proposals that will be subsequently invited to submit full applications later this year. The funds will be distributed by end-2020.

To date, ARENA has provided more than AUD 55 million in financing to back pre-commercial projects, among which renewable hydrogen carriers like ammonia.

(AUD 1.0 = USD 0.633/EUR 0.580)

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