The Australian government has opened a consultation on its Hydrogen Headstart program, which aims to boost renewable hydrogen production in the country. The program, backed by a $2 billion budget, will support large-scale electrolyser deployments to accelerate Australia’s renewable hydrogen capacity.
The consultation paper outlines the program’s objectives, eligibility criteria, funding mechanism, and other features. It proposes providing a hydrogen production credit over ten years to bridge the gap between production costs and sales prices, and targets up to a gigawatt of electrolyser capacity by 2030.
The Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) and the Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment, and Water (DCCEEW) will accept written submissions, hold webinars, and host consultation forums.
ARENA has been a key player in developing Australia’s renewable hydrogen industry since 2017, investing over $255 million in various hydrogen projects.
In May, Fortescue, BHP, and Orica expressed their support for the Hydrogen Headstart program.
The consultation aims to gather input from industry and stakeholders to shape the final program design. Stakeholders can provide submissions to the Hydrogen Headstart consultation process via the DCCEEW Have your say portal by 3 August 2023.
Source: ARENA
Image (Artist impression of the HyP Murray Valley production facility): agig.com.au