Techno-economic analysis of commercial hydrogen production in Australia

R&D Focus Areas:
Whole supply chain, Technology integration process improvement, Electrolysis

Lead Organisation:
CSIRO

Partners:
University of NSW

Status:
Completed

Start date:
February 2020

Completion date:
December 2023

Key contacts:
Dr Nawshad Haque: Nawshad.Haque@csiro.au

Funding:
CSIRO Hydrogen Energy Systems Future Science Platform

Project total cost:
AUD150,000

Project summary description:
Through this collaborative PhD project with the University of New South Wales, the partners are developing techno-economic frameworks to evaluate the viability of hydrogen supply chains in Australia. This includes identifying cost competitive and scalable ways of generating hydrogen, along with finding key opportunities for utilising hydrogen to decarbonise Australia’s energy supply and industry.

In addition, the project aims to deliver an environmental outlook of implementing these technologies, providing a deeper understanding on the cost reduction potential while reducing the environmental footprint. Though there have been some high-level studies evaluating hydrogen generation in Australia, a robust and comprehensive framework for assessing the economic and environmental footprint of hydrogen generation/utilisation in Australia is a priority to support industry development.

The development of this framework would assist stakeholders in making more informed decisions on investment opportunities for developing an Australian hydrogen supply chain.

CSIRO in partnerships with researchers at the University of New South Wales are developing adaptable cost assessment frameworks to evaluate hydrogen production opportunities using commercial technologies like steam methane reforming, coal gasification and electrolysis. These frameworks will be optimised and used to evaluate opportunities to implement these technologies in different jurisdictions across Australia. These opportunities include both blue hydrogen generation using fossil fuels with subsequent carbon capture for storage and utilisation for an environmentally friendly alternative to utilise Australia’s coal and natural gas reserves.

It is also exploring green hydrogen generation using electrolysis to leverage Australia’s vast solar and wind potential. To develop these tools, we are collaborating with various stakeholders, including technology providers and Australian energy producers.

The outcome of the project provided a comprehensive outlook of developing a scalable hydrogen supply chain in Australia; the developed framework can then be used to evaluate business opportunities for utilising low-carbon hydrogen to decarbonise the energy sector.

The findings and frameworks have been published, and the tools have been extensively tested for public use by technology and economic experts from the industry.

Related publications and key links:
M.H.A. Khan (2023) Technical, Environmental and Economic Assessment Frameworks and Tools for Low Emission Hydrogen Production – A Case Study of Australia. PhD Thesis, UNSW, Sydney, Australia. https://doi.org/10.26190/unsworks/30130

Khan, M.H.A.; Kuswara, A.; Heywood, P.; Daiyan, R.; Neal, P.; Haque, N.; MacGill, I.; Amal, R. An integrated framework of open-source tools for designing and evaluating green hydrogen production opportunities. Nature Series Communication Earth and Environment, 2022, 3 (1), 309. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s43247-022-00640-1

Khan, M.H.A.; Sitaraman, T.; Haque, N.; Leslie, G.; Saydam, S.; Daiyan, R.; Amal, R. Strategies for Life Cycle Impact Reduction of Green Hydrogen Production – Influence of Electrolyser Value Chain Design. International Journal of Hydrogen Energy, 62:769-782. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijhydene.2024.01.081

M.H.A. Khan, R. Daiyan, P. Neal, N Haque, I. MacGill, R. Amal (2021) A framework for assessing economics of blue hydrogen production from steam methane reforming using carbon capture storage & utilisation. International Journal of Hydrogen Energy DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijhydene.2021.04.104

M.H.A. Khan, R. Daiyan, Z. Han, M. Hablutzel, N. Haque, R. Amal, I. MacGill (2021) Designing Optimal Integrated Electricity Supply Configurations for Renewable Hydrogen Generation in Australia. iScience, 102539, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.isci.2021.102539

CSIRO ‘Future Science Platforms: Hydrogen Energy Systems’: Technoeconomics – Hydrogen Energy Systems (csiro.au)

Higher degree studies supported:
One PhD student is supported by this project.

 

Reviewed: July 2024