While still nascent, green hydrogen can take off as a fuel source and energy storage system if it is afforded the support, regulatory environment and financial backing it deserves, Hive Energy’s Shirvine Zhang tells Sean Rai-Roche.
The Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) has selected three commercial-scale green hydrogen projects that will share in AU$103 million (US$79.7 million) of funding to support their development.
Enel Green Power has signed an agreement that will see energy from one of its US solar projects converted into green hydrogen to be supplied to a bio-refinery.
Annual global investments in green hydrogen are on track to exceed US$1 billion by 2023 as production costs fall and governments increase their support for the technology.
Energy innovation group EIT InnoEnergy has launched a new initiative aimed at stimulating the development of a green hydrogen economy in Europe that could be worth up to €100 billion a year by 2025.
Europe’s renewables sector stands well poised to deliver the huge scale of growth required to power a green hydrogen economy, but issues surrounding land and permitting will need to be tackled if the nascent sector is to fulfil its potential.
BP has landed funding from the Australian government to assess the feasibility of a renewable hydrogen and ammonia production facility in Western Australia.
