The South Australian Government’s Energy Transition Green Paper has been released for public consultation, alongside the expansion of Australia’s first Hydrogen Park.
The Green Paper, a document intended to stimulate broad discussion to inform a comprehensive long-term policy statement, identifies various challenges impacting South Australia’s use of energy, both current and emerging, and the opportunities that successfully navigating these challenges can represent for the state as it transitions to a net zero emissions future.
The State Government has invited all South Australians to help shape the State’s energy future by giving feedback on the YourSAy website.
The release of the Green Paper comes as that future is glimpsed with Australia’s first Hydrogen Park in the Tonsley Innovation District set to expand its reach.
An additional 3,000 homes and businesses across Mitchell Park, Clovelly Park and parts of Marion are now powered by a blended natural and hydrogen gas network. The new customers don’t need to take any action to connect to greener gas as it is supplied to properties connected to existing infrastructure.
Part of the Australian Gas Infrastructure Group (AGIG), the $14.5 million renewable hydrogen production facility is Australia’s largest renewable gas project and a market leader in decarbonisation of Australia’s gas supply.
The launch of the project saw 700 homes receiving a blend of five per cent renewable hydrogen and natural gas delivered through the existing gas network. Hydrogen Park SA continues to consult and communicate with the local community about the benefits of renewable hydrogen.
Hydrogen Park SA also provides green hydrogen to industry in the form of tube trailers, long storage tubes on the back of semi-trailers, from its Tonsley facility.
The State Government sees hydrogen power as an integral component of the state’s energy transition, which is why it is investing $593 million in a first-of-its-kind green hydrogen power facility to drive production for a rapidly decarbonising global market.
The Hydrogen Jobs Plan will deliver ‘firming services’ to South Australian renewable generation facilities such as wind and solar farms, and ensure the reduced firming costs are passed on to South Australian energy users.
The Green Paper explores the opportunities and challenges for the State’s energy transition across government, industry and community sectors. It highlights the transformation of South Australia’s energy sector, from a coal and gas-reliant state at the turn of the century to one powered by more than 70 per cent renewables.
The South Australian Government has said it is committed to ongoing, meaningful collaboration with industry and consumers to develop the state’s medium-to-long term energy policy.
This collaboration will inform the Government’s actions to successfully transition the state to net zero emissions by 2050.
Australian Gas Infrastructure Group CEO, Craig de Laine, said the importance of renewable gas is becoming clearer by the day as an additional source of low or zero carbon energy that can help meet Australia’s ambitious decarbonisation targets.
“AGIG is very proud to be delivering and expanding exciting projects like Hydrogen Park SA, which clearly show how renewable gas can have a growing role in supporting customer choice, energy reliability, affordability and flexibility when it comes to meeting consumer energy needs that also meet our state’s climate goals,” Mr de Laine said.
“The South Australian Government has a long history of leadership on renewable energy, including hydrogen, and AGIG’s HyP South Australia project shows the opportunities we have to scale up renewable gas production and deployment. We continue to appreciate the Government’s ongoing support of HyP SA and the pathways they are forging for other nation-leading renewable energy projects in the state.”
To read the Green Paper, click here.
