Out-Law News 1 min. read
10 Nov 2021, 11:58 am
The New South Wales (NSW) state government has asked potential developers of commercial scale green hydrogen projects to apply for funding under the state’s hydrogen hub scheme.
Consumers who are interested in using the generated green hydrogen can also register their interest, as part of the NSW state government’s plan for development of a hydrogen hub.
The plans will support the development and scaling up of hydrogen industry across the state via two streams, which include grant funding for commercial scale green hydrogen projects; and identifying consumers and potential sources of demand across the state.
Hydrogen expert George Varma of Pinsent Masons, the law firm behind Out-Law, said: “It is great to see New South Wales drive its hydrogen agenda through the development of hydrogen hubs in the region. The grants being made available will certainly encourage investment and drive innovation, as we are already seeing in states such as Western Australia, Queensland and South Australia. Developing the domestic hydrogen industry is needed to ensure the domestic hydrogen market steadily grows in parallel with the international trading market. We will no doubt see some strategic investments in the region as a result of this funding availability.”
Funding will be prioritised for projects that can rapidly scale up and support growing hydrogen demand such as heavy transport deployment, and projects that support the creation of a distributed refuelling network. Grant funding is only available for the hydrogen projects stream. Individual hydrogen consumers will only get funding if they join a project and are part of a successful full application.
The state government has committed to allocate A$70 million (US$52m) to support the set-up and development of the hydrogen hub. It aims to increase electrolyser capacity to 700 megawatts (MW) by 2030, focusing on hubs in the Illawarra and Hunter regions while supporting hydrogen industries in other location across the state.
Applications for the hydrogen projects grant funding stream will close on 28 January 2022.
In October, the NSW state government announced a new hydrogen strategy, setting targets for the development of a renewable or 'green' hydrogen industry in the state, providing A$3 billion in incentives.
