The Tasmanian government is lodging its official funding submission with the federal government to initiate the Tasmanian Green Hydrogen Hub project at Bell Bay.
The federal government in September launched a program to provide grants of up to $3 million for project consortia to initially progress feasibility and design work and up to $70 million for the roll-out of projects.
The government said the funding would help to de-risk projects and quickly achieve the scale necessary to establish new export industries.
A statement from state minister for energy and emissions reduction Guy Barnett said Bell Bay is the “perfect” location for a renewable hydrogen hub because of its port access, manufacturing zone, renewable energy availability and water availability.
“The funding sought will establish the right environment and infrastructure necessary for operations to start unlocking the potential for large-scale hydrogen export and supporting domestic market activation in Tasmania and on the mainland,” Mr Barnett said.
“There is already significant interest in Bell Bay from some of Australia’s largest potential hydrogen producers including Fortescue Future Industries, Woodside Energy, Origin Energy and ABEL Energy and we’re proud that many of these companies have provided letters of support for our funding submission.”
When launching the Clean Hydrogen Industrial Hubs program in September, federal minister for energy and emissions reduction Angus Taylor said these hydrogen hubs were crucial to the government’s vision of making Australia a major global player in hydrogen production and exports by 2030.
“We are looking to partner with industry, and work with state and territory governments to make this a reality,” Mr Taylor said.
“The development of Clean Hydrogen Industrial Hubs would help the emerging industry work towards achieving the stretch goal of hydrogen production at under $2 a kilogram under the government’s Technology Investment Roadmap.”
