Australian govt earmarks USD 213m for "clean" hydrogen hubs

The Australian government will invest a further AUD 275.5 million (USD 213.4m/EUR 176.4m) in "clean" hydrogen through its 2021/22 budget, it announced last week.

The funding will accelerate the development of four additional clean hydrogen hubs in regional Australia and will also be used for the implementation of a clean hydrogen certification scheme, the government said.

The Australian Hydrogen Council welcomed the announcement. The Clean Energy Council described the investment as a positive step, but added that it should be targeted at low-cost renewable hydrogen hubs and not "at locking in fossil fuel-based hydrogen for longer through the use of carbon capture and storage (CCS)." According to the organisation, more details are needed to understand how the government's commitments will aid renewable hydrogen investment.

Together with the hydrogen funding announcement, the government said it will invest AUD 263.7 million to support the development of carbon capture, use and storage (CCS/CCUS) projects and hubs.

"It is essential we position Australia to succeed by investing now in the technologies that will support our industries into the future, with lower emissions energy that can support Australian jobs," commented prime minister Scott Morrison.

In a separate announcement, the government said that AUD 565.8 million in the budget will be earmarked for supporting low-emissions international technology partnerships and initiatives through co-funding research and demonstration projects.

(AUD 1.0 = USD 0.774/EUR 0.640)

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