Australia's federal Labor government will spend A$70mn ($46mn) to turn around flagging interest in the Bell Bay hydrogen hub planned for the island state of Tasmania.
Combined federal and state government funding alongside private-sector contributions will lead to A$300mn invested at the site, which will commence construction this year and be completed by 2028, according to a joint announcement from federal energy minister Chris Bowen and his Tasmanian Liberal party counterpart Nick Duigan.
The hub is likely to produce up to 45,000 t/yr of green hydrogen and support the manufacture of green metals and alloys like iron, aluminium and steel, the ministers said on 18 January.
Four projects had previously been announced for Bell Bay, a deepwater port on the state's north coast, aiming to produce hydrogen, green ammonia and methanol for export.
But development has stalled at the precinct, with power grid constraints likely the reason for flagging interest.
The Paris-based IEA has lowered its projections of renewable energy capacity dedicated to hydrogen for Australia, citing continued policy uncertainty following early achievement of its renewable energy target.
A joint report by the Tasmanian government and Port of Rotterdam published in June found the state's renewable hydrogen projects would likely need electrolyser capacity of over 1GW to attain the economies of scale to make exports viable — double the largest Bell Bay project's current size.
Canberra last month released a shortlist of projects it was considering for the A$2bn Hydrogen Headstart subsidy, but did not include any of the Bell Bay developments.
The funding comes after Bowen last year pledged A$70mn for the 50MW Hunter Valley hydrogen hub in New South Wales state and another A$70mn each for South Australia's Port Bonython and Queensland's Townsville — among seven regional hubs identified by Canberra to be backed with more than A$500mn in support.
