The next Labor administration in South Australia aims to build a state-owned hydrogen electrolyzer and green hydrogen-fired power plant at Whyalla, after previously leading the world with the installation of the world-first Hornsdale large battery.
The 250 MWe electrolyzers, 200 MW power station, and 3,600-tonne hydrogen storage facilities, which cost $593 million, are expected to be a game-changer for both the national energy market and heavy industry in the northern Spencer Gulf region.
The project is in addition to the state’s $18 billion in green hydrogen ideas for neighboring Port Bonython, which are now being explored, as well as a new transmission line being built from the solar and wind-rich area to New South Wales and Victoria.
Local firms Fortescue Future Industries, Origin Energy, Santos, and H2U, as well as foreign corporations Eneos, Chiyoda, Mitsubishi, and AMP Energy, are lining up at Port Bonython.
The proposed investments are as follows:
- Provide a means of capturing surplus solar energy generated throughout the day to manufacture hydrogen, reducing the risk of domestic solar being disconnected from the grid.
- To enhance the national electricity market, develop a new source of green firming power.
- Sanjeev Gupta’s Liberty Steel, Nyrstar’s Port Pirie lead smelter, and BHP and Oz Minerals’ copper plants are also pursuing green initiatives.
- And support hydrogen exports and new industrial applications, such as increasing the value of the state’s copper output.
In announcing the Hydrogen Jobs Plan, incoming Premier Peter Malinauskas stated that his goal was to capture a third of the green hydrogen jobs produced in SA by 2030.
“Previously, the battery accelerated the development of grid-scale storage in Australia and throughout the world,” he explained.
“This is the next great step ahead for us.”
When the SA Liberal government took power four years ago, it sustained and extended the green energy focus it inherited from Labor, investing $67 million, including extending the export terminal at Port Bonython.
It did, however, pass legislation allowing energy suppliers to turn off household solar systems when production exceeds demand. SA Power Networks, the local power distributor, has also proposed levying a fee on houses that export energy to the grid through rooftop solar panels.
Western Australia, Queensland, and, more recently, New South Wales have all looked to outshine the state’s green hydrogen objectives in recent years.
It’s a moot issue if a fresh hydrogen push in SA can bring the state back to the levels of industry development experienced in the 1960s and 1970s.
However, with renewable energy accounting for 64% of the state’s electricity, it appears like it will be the first jurisdiction in Australia and the globe to reach 100% – and in only a few years.
