Australia looks to develop domestic green hydrogen industry and export clean hydrogen in a bid to become a global hydrogen leader, the government of one of the world's top LNG exporters said on Friday.
The Australian government today published its new National Hydrogen Strategy, which identifies objectives and actions to take and underpin delivery of Australia's hydrogen industry at scale.
The key to the government's plan is funding through an estimated US$5.4 billion (AUS$8 billion) allocation made in this year's Federal Budget.
The funding will support the green Hydrogen Production Tax Incentive program, and the expanded green Hydrogen Headstart program, the government said.
Australia plans to invest as much as US$15 billion (AUS$22.7 billion) over the next decade to become a renewable energy superpower and boost its domestic critical minerals economy, the Labor Government said in May this year.
With the new hydrogen strategy unveiled today, the government expects the incentives to unlock US$33.6 billion (AUS$50 billion) in private sector investment in the clean hydrogen industry. Under the plan, Australia's annual domestic production capacity is expected to exceed 1 million tons of green hydrogen by 2030. It anticipates possible annual production targets of 15 million tons by 2050, supported by five-yearly milestones.
The government says that Australia is already well placed to become a world leader in green hydrogen, with the International Energy Agency (IEA) estimating more than 20% of announced hydrogen projects globally are in Australia.
"As our industry scales, it will provide further and greater benefit for communities, support broader economic growth and provide a key lever for Australia to reach net zero," said Chris Bowen, Minister for Climate Change and Energy.
"It sends a clear signal to trading partners about the future marketplace in Australia for hydrogen and hydrogen-based fuels. We're already seeing the benefits of this through expanded trading agreements with key partners such as Germany."
By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com
Tsvetana is a writer for Oilprice.com with over a decade of experience writing for news outlets such as iNVEZZ and SeeNews. More