What does the Federal Budget 2021-22 mean for the Hydrogen industry?

Hydrogen

May 12, 2021 / Quentin Roberts

What does the Federal Budget 2021-22 mean for the Hydrogen industry?

We've heard it said that Hydrogen is the fuel of the future, but what does that mean in practical terms?

It's no secret that Hydrogen is a significant part of the clean energy transition and key part of the process of decarbonising our economy, so how does it feature in the Federal Budget 2021-21?

The government's tag line is: "Investing in reliable affordable energy and reducing emissions to secure Australia's recovery". Under this theme there are both direct and indirect benefits to the Hydrogen Industry. It's good to see some solid allocation to Hydrogen and while there is some more detail to come, this is what we know so far.

Direct Hydrogen Industry benefit:

$24.9 million over three years from 2021-22 to support the development of hydrogen ready gas generation infrastructure (with $8.7 million to be funded through a reprioritisation of existing resources).
$19.3 million over three years from 2021-22 to support the development of a renewable energy microgrid incorporating hydrogen for the Daintree community in Far North Queensland.
$1.2 billion over ten years from 2021-22 (including $643.4 million over four years from 2021-22) to create a technology co-investment facility that supports the development of regional hydrogen hubs, carbon capture, use and storage technologies, very low cost soil carbon measurement and new agricultural feed technologies, a high-integrity carbon offset scheme in the Indo-Pacific region, and support the implementation of the Technology Investment Roadmap and Low Emissions Technology Statements**
$275.5 million to accelerate the development of four additional clean hydrogen export hubs (for a total of five), increasing the Government’s commitment to building an Australian hydrogen industry to more than $850 million.

**The priority low emissions technologies identified in this Statement are:

clean hydrogen,
energy storage
low carbon materials (steel and aluminium)
carbon capture and storage
soil carbon

Broader Energy Industry Benefit:

$279.9 million over ten years from 2021-22 (including $81.7 million over four years from 2021-22) to establish the below baseline crediting mechanism recommended by the King Review and help realise abatement opportunities in large industrial facilities
$26.4 million over four years to support Australian businesses and supply chains to reduce their energy costs and improve productivity through the uptake of more energy efficient industrial equipment and business practices

Other Hydrogen announcements:

$400 million Energy and Emissions Reduction Agreement with South Australia for investment in priority areas such as carbon capture and storage, electric vehicles, hydrogen and other emissions reduction projects in South Australia to help meet and beat Australia's commitments under the Paris Agreement;

Summary:

There is clearly going to be a lot of activity in the Hydrogen space, so stayed tuned, we'll bring further updates as they come to light.

Keep informed, but better still, get involved with you local Hydrogen Industry Cluster to be a part of accelerating this important emerging sector.

What does the Federal Budget 2021-22 mean for the Hydrogen industry?