The Queensland government has granted the Goondiwindi regional council and its project partners A$2 million to pioneer the convergence of hydrogen generation and wastewater treatment.
Steven Miles, Deputy Premier and Minister for State Development, stated that Goondiwindi’s wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) will likely be among the first in Australia to expand into hydrogen generation.
“The funding from the second phase of the A$35-million Hydrogen Industry Development Fund will support this novel method to kickstarting a localized renewable hydrogen economy” (HIDF).
“Hydrogen will be marketed to local consumers, including agricultural users and heavy industries, using power generated by a 2.5 MW solar power plant and treated wastewater. During the production process, oxygen will be returned to the aeration of wastewater, hence enhancing the effectiveness of the WWTP.
“It is feasible that other Councils will embrace the integration of these processes as a model as the usage of renewable hydrogen energy increases,” Miles added.
The entire projected value of the project is A$15 million, with private sector finance now being finalized.
More than A$20 million will be given in the second round of the HIDF to renewable hydrogen projects that are anticipated to support hundreds of highly skilled jobs.
Minister for Energy, Renewables and Hydrogen Mick de Brenni stated that hydrogen was increasing employment in a variety of industries, particularly in remote Queensland.
“Projects like this are progressing across Queensland, utilizing the abundance of world-class energy expertise in regional Queensland,” said De Brenni.
This fundraising round represents the HIDF’s greatest investment in our expanding hydrogen supply chain to date. We are establishing a long-term, thriving renewable hydrogen economy in the United States, which will provide some of the world’s largest corporations with access to competitively priced renewable energy sources on our shores, thereby creating regional employment.
This project joins a growing list of government promises to a clean energy future, one in which innovation drives economic growth and provides Queenslanders with high-skilled employment.
