Funding announced today of $137.9 million as part of the 2022-23 Budget to roll-out the following measures:
• $120 million for a new Hydrogen Utilisation Fund to support growth in local demand for clean hydrogen and related low emissions technologies;
• $10 million to accelerate and implement the hydrogen Guarantee of Origin scheme; and
• $7.8 million to deploy community liaison officers in major hydrogen hub locations.
Hydrogen Utilisation Fund
The Hydrogen Utilisation Fund will complement the Government’s existing support and $464 million Clean Hydrogen Industrial Hubs program by providing funding for early works in existing or potential hub locations to foster more domestic uptake.
The Fund will open through an Expression of Interest process in July, with a focus on the following priority areas:
• Clean ammonia for application in agricultural fertilisers or technical-grade urea for use in diesel exhaust fluid;
• Low and zero emissions metals (such as steel and aluminium);
• Clean hydrogen or ammonia for co-firing in thermal generators;
• Other projects that support demand (such as for use in land and marine transport); and
• Enabling projects (such as shared-infrastructure related to ports, roads, water bunkering or refuelling).
Guarantee of Origin scheme
An additional $10 million has also been allocated to accelerate and implement the Guarantee of Origin (GO) scheme, with industry trials already underway through the Clean Energy Regulator. This will allow the Government to assess how the scheme can be extended scheme to cover other low emissions productssuch as clean metals.
Community Liaison Officers
To support the implementation of the recently announced Clean Hydrogen Industrial Hubs program, the Government is also committing $7.8 million to establish community liaison officers in hub locations. These officers will be located on the ground in the regions and assist industry proponents with collaboration and planning. This includes assisting proponents to access available government initiatives and navigate regulatory processes coordinating annual reports on hub progress and assisting with general community queries.
