Australia and Germany will set up the German-Australian Hydrogen Innovation and Technology Incubator, or HyGATE, to propel pilots, trials, demonstrations, and research for hydrogen projects, as reported by Reuters on November 23 citing Australia’s agency. The Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) and Germany’s Federal Minister of Education and Research (BMBF) have respectively committed AUS50m (USD36m) and EUD50m (USD56m) of funding to the joint hydrogen research institute. Citing Tim Wilson, assistant industry minister of Australia, the country can leverage Germany’s expertise in hydrogen technology, thus increasing value and reducing costs in all stages of its hydrogen supply chain.

Australia aims to break away from the reliance on thermal power and achieve its net-zero emission target by 2050 by developing the hydrogen industry. As one of the world’s largest coal exporters, Australia eyes on the transformation into a major hydrogen exporter as it expects a wide usage of hydrogen. On the other hand, Germany considers hydrogen as the key to its energy transition and takes a leading position in hydrogen technology. The pioneer of hydrogen energy launched the H2Global initiative for green hydrogen imports this March, planning to invest EUD2bn in supporting electrolyzer projects overseas. According to the German federal government, it expects a doubled domestic hydrogen demand of between 90 and 110 terawatt-hours (TWh) in 2030, from that of 55TWh as of June 2020.

Sources:

https://www.reuters.com/markets/commodities/australia-germany-commit-90-mln-fund-hydrogen-projects-2021-11-22/

https://www.spglobal.com/platts/en/market-insights/latest-news/energy-transition/112321-australias-arena-to-oversee-hydrogen-project-with-germany

https://www.spglobal.com/platts/en/market-insights/latest-news/electric-power/031721-germany-launches-h2global-system-to-galvanize-green-hydrogen-imports

https://www.bakermckenzie.com/en/insight/publications/2021/10/german-national-hydrogen-strategy