Queensland and WA join green hydrogen certification

Queensland and Western Australia (WA) have joined the federal government’s green hydrogen certification scheme.

They join Victoria and the Australian Capital Territory as inaugural participants of the plan, which is spearheaded by the renewable energy lobby group The Smart Energy Council. The scheme is intended to determine the amount of carbon incorporated in hydrogen, ammonia, and metals produced in Australia and to assign them a rating. The plan is not yet operational in the crucial states of New South Wales, Tasmania, and South Australia.

The scheme is intended to support the Australian federal government’s National Hydrogen Strategy, which was launched in November 2019.

Western Australia and Queensland both have strong objectives for renewable hydrogen production, including exports.

The Yuri green ammonia project in Western Australia’s Pilbara region is one of the scheme’s initial certification candidates, and the state government has contributed A$2 million ($1.5 million) in the project to spur development. Yuri is a joint venture between Engie’s renewable energy unit in Australia and Yara Pilbara Fertilisers. Yara Pilbara Fertilisers operates an 850,000 t/yr liquid fertilizer factory on the Burrup peninsula in Western Australia’s Pilbara region, where it wants to construct an industrial-scale renewable hydrogen plant with the assistance of a $42.5 million federal government grant.