On Friday 27 January 2023, the Minister for Climate Change and Energy Chris Bowen and the German Minister for Education and Research Bettina Stark-Watzinger in Berlin announced four new joint projects under the German-Australia Hydrogen Innovation and Technology Incubator (HyGATE). See the full media release here. On this occasion, Minister Bowen and Minister Stark-Watzinger also released a joint summary report on the Australia-Germany supply chain feasibility study following two years collaboration between German and Australian consortia to investigate the feasibility of a hydrogen and hydrogen derivatives supply chain between Australia and Germany, and identify how such partnership can be facilitated. This joint final report outlines the diverse range of HySupply outputs, and other activities delivered over the two years of the project, focusing on particularly on the feasibility studies and road mapping and action plans. Most importantly, the report also summarises the key findings and suggested actions for government and industry arising from this work.
Four successful projects receiving up to $50 million from Australia and up to €50million from Germany are:
$20.74 million to Edify Energy Ptd Ltd. to develop, construct and operate the Edify Green Hydrogen Project in partnership with Siemens to contribute to the Australia–Germany supply chain in Townsville, Queensland.
$19.48 million to Vast Solar to develop a methanol production plant using heat from concentrated solar thermal energy, including a 10 MW electrolyser producing green hydrogen in Port Augusta, South Australia.
$8.98 million to Hysata Pty Ltd. to develop a new ‘capillary-fed’ electrolyser to test the delivery of low-cost hydrogen in Port Kembla, New South Wales.
$800,000 to ATCO Australia Pty Ltd. supported by NSW Powerfuels for a feasibility study into deploying an electrolyser and ammonia facility in the Illawarra to make advancements in hydrogen technologies and storage in the Illawarra region, New South Wales