Unlike the dumb trolls SA can see the huge hydrogen energy export potential to Japan.



S.A. to host Australia’s first green hydrogen power plant
Giles Parkinson 12 February 2018



The South Australia government has announced funding for what will be Australia’s first renewable-hydrogen electrolyser plant – a 15MW facility to be built near the end of the grid at Port Lincoln on the Eyre Peninsula.



The “green hydrogen” plant – to be built by Hydrogen Utility (H2U), working with Germany’s thyssenkrupp – will include a 10MW hydrogen-fired gas turbine, fuelled by local wind and solar power, and a 5MW hydrogen fuel cell.

Both will supply power to the grid, will support two new solar farms and a local micro-grid, and will also include “distributed ammonia” that can be used as an industrial fertiliser for farmers and aquaculture operators.

The $117.5 million project, which will receive a $4.7 million grant and a $7.5 million loan from South Australia’s Renewable Technology Fund, is being described as a “globally-significant demonstrator project” for the emerging hydrogen energy sector.

It is the second biggest facility of its type, will boast the biggest hydrogen-supported turbine, and will also be the largest supplier of “green ammonia” in the world.

Hydrogen has often been dismissed as a viable technology because of the recent gains of electric vehicles and battery storage, but its proponents believe that it can create export industries to rival that of natural gas, and its added value chain can make it extremely valuable in the domestic market.

“More renewable energy means cheaper power and the ability to store renewables means the benefits of that cheap power can be experienced around the clock,” energy minister Tom Koutsantonis said in a statement.

“Hydrogen also offers an opportunity to create a new industry in South Australia where we can export our sun and wind resources to the world.”

The announcement continues a late rush of pre-election funding initiatives by the Labor government in the last few weeks, including for microgrids, virtual power plants, more grid-scale batteries, and five potential pumped hydro projects, scaling the range of storage options.


South Australia, which goes to the polls in little more than four weeks, already sources half of its electricity needs from wind and solar and will soon source even more as new projects come on-line, and hydrogen is seen as a major new opportunity.

“South Australia is at the global forefront of a broad range of storage technology, from big batteries, to virtual power plants to pumped hydro – now we will also be home to one of the largest hydrogen production facilities in the world as well,” Koutsantonis said.

The project at Port Lincoln will be nearly 10 times bigger than an electrolyser planned by the ACT government as part of its push to source 100 per cent of its electricity needs through renewable energy.

Hydrogen is produced through a process called electrolysis which, in this case, uses surplus renewable energy from wind and solar plants to power an electrolyser to split clean water into hydrogen and oxygen.

That hydrogen can then be used to power fuel cell vehicles, make ammonia, generate electricity in a turbine or fuel cell, supply industry, or to export around the world.

H2U chief executive Dr Attilio Pigneri said the hydrogen gas plant and fuel cell will be able to provide balancing services to the national transmission grid, as well as fast frequency response support for new solar plants under development in the Eyre Peninsula.

Pigneri told RenewEconomy the electrolyser itself will provide fast response in the range of milliseconds, while the gas turbine and the fuel cell can put power into the grid.

He sees hydrogen as a viable competitor to battery storage for “end-of-grid” solutions, particularly from its ability to generate additional income streams such as ammonia.

Asked about the skepticism surround hydrogen technologies, Pigneri said there was a “lot of momentum for batteries, but hydrogen technology is quite robust   .. it may provide a more effective option than batteries, because you can store as much as you want.”

The Port Lincoln facility will store 10 tonnes of hydrogen, equivalent to 200MWh.

It will support two new solar farms and a 5MW micro-grid to be built by a local tuna operator – many of which have been frustrated by recent blackouts, and the failure of the ageing diesel generators.

It will also supply green ammonia and other chemicals to local farmers and aquaculture operators.

“The project will provide the perfect training ground for a new wave of green hydrogen professionals,” Pigneri said in a statement.

“We are very lucky to be able to work with local academic institutions, such as the University of Adelaide, and the local energy market regulator, towards the establishment of training programs for certified operators, technicians and professionals that can support the growth of the industry.”

This exciting future energy story continues overleaf

Ammonia is looking good as a carrier for hydrogen.



Australian Renewable Energy Agency Issues H2 Fuel Carriers RFP
by Stephen Crolius JANUARY 18, 2018

One of Ammonia Energy’s “top ten” stories of 2017 described Australia’s early steps toward export of renewable hydrogen in the form of green ammonia.  The story said that “Agencies such as the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) made it clear during the year that the country intends to build on [its historical] position” as a supplier of fossil energy to countries such as Japan.

ARENA took a tangible step in this direction on December 20, 2017 with the release of a Request for Proposal for a AUD$20 million (USD$16 million) renewable hydrogen R&D funding program.  Included in the scope, per ARENA’s 2017 Investment Plan, could be “demonstration of renewable production methods for transportable energy storage options (such as hydrogen or ammonia).”

The ARENA plan contains four priorities, one of which is the export of renewable energy.  In this area, the agency is thinking in terms of a complete value chain, from the capture of renewable energy in Australia to the use of the energy in another country.  The overriding objective is to improve as many steps as possible so that Australian renewable energy can compete on total cost with conventional energy.

“Hydrogen production, conversion to a carrier or substance suitable for export, and transformation into energy at point-of-use are all stages in the supply chain that have significant scope for cost reductions. The capability to supply renewable hydrogen (or a related substance) at a competitive price is likely to drive further investment throughout the rest of the supply chain, including increased support for dedicated renewables for export.”
ARENA press release: “ARENA launches $20 million hydrogen funding round,” 12/20/2017

ARENA presented its 2017 Investment Plan in May and issued a Request for Information in September. This garnered “45 responses from a range of organisations and individuals with information on the renewable production of hydrogen, hydrogen fuel carriers and supply chains in Australia that make use of a carrier material to transport renewable fuel.”

Commenting on the renewable hydrogen funding round, ARENA Chief Executive Officer Ivor Frischknecht said that “Australia exports approximately three quarters of the energy it produces, in the form of coal and gas. Having some of the best solar and wind power resources in the world, Australia could become a superpower in exports of renewable energy, globally, leveraging existing relationships and growing global low carbon energy demand in countries such as Japan, South Korea and China.”

This theme was reinforced as part of Hyundai’s January 15 announcement that it will introduce its Nexo fuel cell vehicle in Australia in 2019. In the announcement, Hyundai Australia Future Mobility and Government Relations Manager Scott Nargar spoke about the Nexo’s catalytic potential:

“We’ve got guys working with CSIRO who built the world’s first [hydrogen] cracker where you have liquid ammonia going in and, through the CSIRO cracker, which is world-first technology, out comes pure hydrogen for cars.”

Nargar said other nations were already eyeing the process, which could offer “massive export opportunity”.

“The Korean government is very interested because they’re going to run 26,000 fuel cell buses,” Nargar said. “They need to buy their energy from somewhere in the world, [so] let’s make that green energy. Australia should be able to supply that energy in the form of green ammonia.”
Wheels: Hyundai’s Nexo hydrogen vision coming to Australia, 1/15/2018

Ammonia Energy has posted about the CSIRO cracker on several occasions, including in another “top ten” story.

ARENA’s renewable hydrogen funding round is seeking proposals that map onto Technology Readiness Levels (TRLs) 2 through 6.  In the agency’s schema (borrowed from the U.S. Department of Energy) TRL 2 involves formulation of a technology concept and/or application.  TRL 6 involves validation of a pilot-scale or prototypical system in a relevant environment.

The deadline for applications to the program is February 28, 2018.

http://www.ammoniaenergy.org/australian-renewable-energy-agency-issues-h2-fuel-c...

This exciting article continues...

“This is about using inexpensive or free energy, which would otherwise be spilled to produce a clean form of stored energy that has many value streams – 100 per cent pure hydrogen, with the only by-product being 100 per cent pure oxygen.”

As Giles Parkinson noted earlier this month, hydrogen has often been dismissed as a viable technology because of the recent gains of electric vehicles and battery storage, but its proponents believe that it can create export industries to rival that of natural gas, and its added value chain can make it extremely valuable in the domestic market.

https://reneweconomy.com.au/sa-backs-second-renewables-gas-hydrogen-plant-tonsle...

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