Australia’s federal Labor opposition has unveiled a $1 billion dollar plan to push Australia’s renewable-based hydrogen industry, opening up what looks like a fierce energy policy battle with the conservative Liberal-National government leading to this year’s federal election.
The policy, known as the National Hydrogen Plan, would allocate $1 billion of funding from the Clean Energy Finance Corporation (CEFC) to support clean hydrogen development, as part of Labor’s commitment to double the CEFC’s capital by $10 billion.
The emerging industry could be worth $10 billion in 20 years and create 16,000 new jobs in regional Australia, according to Labor.
Hydrogen produces water vapour and heat when burned, and is close to a zero-emissions fuel when produced from water using renewable electricity, or from coal or methane combined with carbon capture and storage.
Labor’s plan also includes establishing a National Hydrogen Innovation Hub in Gladstone, about 550 kilometres north of Brisbane, making the town the “hydrogen capital of Australia”.
“We want regional Queenslanders to have good, secure blue-collar jobs for the future in existing and new industries,” Labor leader Bill Shorten said in a statement today.
The Labor plan would also build on extensive work being led by the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA), by adding up to $90 million of unallocated ARENA funding to further research, demonstration and pre-commercial deployment of hydrogen technologies.
The broader six-point plan would see $90 million of unallocated funding from ARENA go towards hydrogen technologies.
A Labor government would also establish a $10 million ARENA funding round for hydrogen refuelling infrastructure around Australia along with $40 million of funding from the CEFC Clean Energy Innovation Fund to target technologies and businesses that have passed the research and development stage..
Australia’s chief scientist Dr Alan Finkel has flagged the potential of hydrogen for its environmental benefits, as well as its potential to be exported to Asia as an alternative to gas or coal.
Dr Finkel is leading a recently established working group to develop a national hydrogen strategy for 2020-2030.
Queensland’s state Labor premier, Annastacia Palaszczuk, said Queensland solar farms could be used to produce and ship hydrogen for export.
“In Queensland we are aiming to have some of the world’s first renewable hydrogen power exports, with Queensland sunshine, helping to power the Tokyo Olympics next year,” she said.
“This would place Queensland on the world stage as a leader in exporting renewable energy.”
In an interview with ABC Radio this morning, shadow energy minister Mark Butler gave more detail on the hydrogen plan, noting that extensive research from the CSIRO had forecast that by 2025 at the latest, hydrogen electrolysis technology would be “very cost competitive”.
“Around the world, using renewable energy to power this in a clean way is seen as the future, the way of the future,” he said.
“This really dovetails very neatly into Labor’s focus on making Australia a renewable energy powerhouse for the future because, for example, Japan, which is leading this, has said by 2030 any hydrogen sourced from around the world must be zero emissions.”
