East Australia gas pipelines start blending hydrogen

Gas pipeline operators in eastern Australia are working on projects to blend hydrogen into their gas pipeline systems as part of a long-term effort to reduce the greenhouse gas (GHG) emission intensity of producing and consuming gas.

Australian Gas Infrastructure (AGIG), which is owned by Hong Kong-based conglomerate CK, plans to start delivering a 5pc hydrogen blend into its gas pipelines to supply consumers in Mitchell Park, a suburb in South Australia's state capital Adelaide, in the January-March quarter.

AGIG is producing hydrogen at the Hydrogen Park facility in Tonsley, south of Adelaide, using water and electricity from wind and solar photovoltaic (PV) sources. The project plans to operate for around five years to provide AGIG with the operational experience to work on developing a larger facility to scale up its hydrogen-blending business.

AGIG is also working on scaling up its South Australia hydrogen-blending operations to supply a 10pc hydrogen blend into the gas pipeline network, and plans to supply a 10pc hydrogen blend from its Hydrogen Park, Gladstone facility in Queensland, which is looking to start operations in 2022, AGIG said.

Fellow gas pipeline operator Jemena, which is 60pc owned by China's largest utility State Grid Corporation of China and 40pc owned by state-controlled utility Singapore Power, is working on a project to supply a 2pc blend of hydrogen in its gas network in western Sydney to supply around 250 homes and an electric vehicle recharging station under the project, Jemena said.

Australia's largest gas pipeline operator APA is working on a project to make around 10pc, or about 40km, of its Parmelia gas pipeline (PGP) in Western Australia hydrogen-ready, linking onshore gas fields in the Perth basin to the Dampier to Bunbury gas pipeline.

"Under this project, it is proposed that a section of the Parmelia gas pipeline will be transformed into Australia's first 100pc hydrogen-ready transmission pipeline — making it one of only five hydrogen-ready pipelines in the world," APA said while announcing its financial results for the first half of the 2020-21 fiscal year to 30 June.

Around two-thirds of Australian gas production is used as feedstock for LNG exports.

APA also estimates there are up to $11 trillion of investments in the global hydrogen sector. The Australian government's national hydrogen strategy unveiled in late 2019 outlined plans to allow up to 10pc of hydrogen in the domestic gas network.

By Kevin Morrison