ATCO gets Western Australia’s government grant for hydrogen

Western Australia’s government has granted a $1.97 million grant to ATCO, which manages the majority of the state’s gas network, to assist capital works for injecting renewable hydrogen into the gas grid.

The $2.6 million initiative will see green hydrogen from ATCO’s Clean Energy Innovation Hub (CEIH) in Jandakot “mixed into isolated parts” of the gas network. The goal is to increase this to up to 10% of total gas delivered.

According to the WA government, this will be Australia’s largest such project, with “approximately 2,500 connections.” The award is made possible through the state’s Renewable Hydrogen Fund.

The Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) awarded ATCO up to $28.7 million in May for a 10 MW electrolyzer at the Clean Energy Innovation Park (CEIP) in Warradarge, WA.

ATCO’s three primary hydrogen projects, according to its website, are the CEIH in Jandakot, the CEIP at Warradarge, and collaboration with Fortescue on vehicle fuelling infrastructure.