Renewable hydrogen to be produced at Brisbane gas facility
Summary
On behalf of the Australian Government, the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) today announced $950,000 in funding for gas company BOC for a renewable hydrogen production and refuelling project in Queensland.The $3.1 million pilot project will involve the installation of a 220 kW electrolyser and a 100 kW solar array at BOCs Bulwer Island gas facility to produce green hydrogen via electrolysis, and will utilise the industrial gas equipment and infrastructure onsite. The electrolyser will be configured to produce hydrogen via electrolysis drawn from the onsite solar or grid sourced renewable energy via a power purchase agreement.ARENA CEO Darren Miller said BOCs project would demonstrate the production and use of renewable hydrogen in refuelling, and in existing gas production and supply chains.BOCs project is a great example of leveraging current industrial gas equipment and infrastructure, and will also trial renewable hydrogen in refuelling. Producing hydrogen on site will reduce shipping costs, while being able to help grow the local Brisbane fuel cell vehicle market and also meet demand from local industry.Hydrogen is a huge opportunity for Australia, both in our domestic economy and internationally as an emission-free energy source but it is still in its early stages. In Australia, hydrogen has applications across transport, heavy industry, and as energy storage injected into our existing gas networks. ARENA is also contributing to the National Hydrogen Strategy being led by Chief Scientist Alan Finkel.ARENA is playing a leading role in helping to get Australias hydrogen economy off the ground by supporting innovation from early stage research to demonstration-scale projects like this, Mr Miller said.BOC South Pacifics Managing Director John Evans said this will leverage BOCs existing infrastructure and expertise across the entire hydrogen supply chain, and support the growth of hydrogen as a zero emission fuel.BOC is delighted to be working with ARENA and our project partners to establish a local supply of renewable hydrogen in Queensland that can be easily scalable and replicated across the country.Through this project, we will deliver added environmental value to our industrial customers and facilitate the introduction of hydrogen fuel cell electric vehicles in Queensland while also enhancing our own production processes at Bulwer Island.