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Growing Australia's hydrogen industry

To support our future energy needs the world needs clean, flexible, storable and safe fuels. Hydrogen has all of these characteristics. As a fuel it produces no carbon emissions, only water.

We can use it to:

power vehicles
generate electricity and produce heat
make products like fertilisers, plastics and explosives.

Australia has an abundance of natural resources to make clean hydrogen for our own use and to supply the world.

Our vision is to build a clean, innovative, safe and competitive hydrogen industry that benefits all Australians. We aim to grow our hydrogen industry and position Australia as a major player by 2030 through Australia's National Hydrogen Strategy.

The Australian Government is investing $1.2 billion into building a hydrogen industry.

Prioritising hydrogen to reduce emissions

Clean hydrogen is part of Australia’s Long-Term Emissions Reduction Plan. Producing clean hydrogen under $2 per kilogram (H₂ under 2) is a priority stretch goal under the government’s Technology Investment Roadmap.

Partnering internationally to supply hydrogen

We are setting the foundations for Australia to be a major hydrogen exporter. We are doing this by partnering with other countries to attract investment, build supply chains and advance research and development.

This includes:

investing in new hydrogen initiatives with Germany as we explore hydrogen supply chain possibilities
working to accelerate low emissions technologies with Singapore. This includes maritime and port operations
partnering with Japan to export clean liquefied hydrogen as part of the world-first Hydrogen Energy Supply Chain (HESC) Pilot Project
strengthening research connections and knowledge exchange through the Hydrogen RD&D International Collaboration Program
cooperating with the United Kingdom on research and development across low emissions technologies, including clean hydrogen
collaborating on research into hydrogen supply chains under the Australia–Republic of Korea Low and Zero Emissions Technology Partnership.
promoting hydrogen safety best practice as a member of the US Center for Hydrogen Safety
supporting the Special Adviser to the Australian Government on Low Emissions Technology to engage with international partners.

Certifying hydrogen production

Australia is designing and developing an internationally consistent Guarantee of Origin certification scheme for Australia.

Through the International Partnership on Hydrogen and Fuel Cells in the Economy, we work with other countries to agree on methods for determining carbon emissions associated with hydrogen production.

We ran a survey on certification in 2020 and released a discussion paper in 2021.

Responses to the paper will help us develop a trial Guarantee of Origin hydrogen certification scheme for Australia.

Creating clean hydrogen industrial hubs in regional Australia

The National Hydrogen Strategy supports the creation of hydrogen hubs. Hubs are regions where hydrogen users, producers and potential exporters are co-located. This makes the hub model an efficient approach to producing hydrogen at scale and increasing demand.

The Clean Hydrogen Industrial Hubs program will support industry to develop 7 hubs in regional Australia. There are 2 grant opportunities under the program:

Hub Development and Design Grants will help fund the initial development, feasibility and design of hydrogen hub concepts.
Hub Implementation Grants round 1 will help establish clean hydrogen industrial hub projects.

Progressing the hydrogen industry

We are also:

completing a National Hydrogen Infrastructure Assessment
reviewing Australia’s legal frameworks to better support hydrogen industry development and safety
reviewing national gas laws and considering the economics of using hydrogen in gas networks
providing support for hydrogen pilots, trials and demonstrations
collaborating with CSIRO to support our newly formed Australian Hydrogen Researcher Network (AHRN)
doing research to inform community engagement
mapping future hydrogen workforce needs
developing an annual State of Hydrogen report.