Australia’s first hydrogen demonstration plant will be built in Adelaide.
The $11.4 million demonstration plant will be built and operated by Australian Gas Infrastructure Group (AGIG) at Tonsley Innovation District, in Adelaide’s southern suburbs.
This follows a $4.9 million grant from the South Australian Government through its $150 million Renewable Technology Fund.
The power-to-gas demonstration plant – to be called Hydrogen Park SA (HyP SA) – will produce hydrogen from renewable electricity, which will then be injected into the local gas distribution network to provide low-carbon gas to homes and businesses.
AGIG Chief Customer Officer, Andrew Staniford, said, “We are delighted that South Australia will lead the way with this pioneering technology.
“The aim of the demonstration plant is to reflect how energy will be provided to businesses and homes in the future.
“It will also illustrate the complementary nature of gas and electricity in meeting the decarbonisation challenge – a key in balancing the energy trilemma.
“The project is expected to be the first in Australia where renewable electricity is stored and distributed in the gas network as hydrogen, providing an additional market for fluctuating renewable electricity and thereby also improving the economics of renewable electricity.
“And importantly, it propels South Australia’s status as a leader in renewable technology and a first mover in hydrogen.
“AGIG is committed to leadership in the decarbonisation of Australia’s energy supply.
“This project will provide an opportunity to develop an Australian-first integrated hydrogen project which paves the way for the commercial deployment of a hydrogen economy.”
The ground-breaking project will involve the construction of a hydrogen production and distribution facility using a 1.25MW PEM electrolyser to produce hydrogen utilising electricity from the grid and potentially on-site solar.
The produced hydrogen will then be injected into AGIG’s local gas network to power the Tonsley Innovation District– but with the ability to be expanded to supply a proposed residential development in the area and other remote customers through tube and trailer facilities.
