Establish hydrogen hubs

A hydrogen hub, or cluster, is defined as a network of hydrogen producers (sometimes including renewable power generation), potential users, and the infrastructure connecting them. The establishment of hydrogen hubs is important as they aim to create a local hydrogen economy, where hydrogen is produced and used within a specific region, reducing the need for long-distance transportation and associated costs.

Currently, most of the refining and chemical production industries that use hydrogen are already located in industrial zones (typically coastal with access to a port), so for this reason encouraging these plants to shift to cleaner hydrogen sources would support the development of local hubs where large-scale hydrogen would be produced for consumption as well as export.

The Australian government is currently investing $464 million into the establishment of a hydrogen industrial hub in each state/territory, with the aim to produce hydrogen at under $2 a kilogram (‘H2 under 2’). Seven prospective priority hub regions have been identified: Bell Bay (Tasmania), Pilbara (Western Australia), Gladstone (Queensland), Latrobe Valley (Victoria), Eyre Peninsula (South Australia), Hunter Valley (New South Wales), Darwin (Northern Territory).

Read about the Tasmanian Green Hydrogen Hub project at Bell Bay.

Your task

Revisit the Australia’s Hydrogen Opportunities Tool (AusH2) and check out the projects again. Can you find any hubs? List any hubs you can find in the comments below.

References

_{ReCFIT (n.d.) Tasmania’s Green Hydrogen Hub Vision, Renewables, Climate and Future Industries Tasmania, The Tasmanian Government.}