The Hydrogen Economic Fairways Tool (HEFT)

R&D Focus Areas:
Techno-economic evaluation, Geographical modelling

Lead Organisation:
Geoscience Australia

Partners:
Monash University

Status:
Active

Start date:
2020

Completion date:
June 2024

Key contacts:
Andrew Feitz (Geoscience Australia): Andrew.Feitz@ga.gov.au
Stuart Walsh (Monash): stuart.walsh@monash.edu

Funding:
The project is funded under the Exploring for the Future program.

Project total cost:
Not applicable

Project summary description:
Assessments of hydrogen project viability typically focus on evaluating individual sites or providing generic cost-estimates that are independent of location. In reality, hydrogen project success is intimately linked to the availability of local energy resources, access to key infrastructure and water supplies, and the distance to export ports and energy markets.

The Hydrogen Economic Fairways Tool (HEFT) incorporated assessments of these regional factors to identify areas of high economic potential for hydrogen production – the so-called “Economic Fairways” for such projects. The results of the analysis highlighted available opportunities for hydrogen development and their infrastructure requirements. HEFT accounts for hydrogen production from renewable (wind and solar) sources, as well as non-renewable sources (steam-methane reformation and coal gasification) combined with carbon capture and storage.

The Economic Fairways team was awarded the Eureka Prize for Innovative Research in Sustainability in 2023.

Related publications and key links:
Rees, S., Walsh, S., Haynes, M., Wang, C., and Feitz, A. 2022. Mapping Australia’s Hydrogen Future. Available at SSRN 4295339.

Walsh, S. D., Easton, L., Wang, C. and Feitz, A. J. 2023. Evaluating the Economic Potential for Geological Hydrogen Storage in Australia. Earth Science, Systems and Society, 3, 10074. https://doi.org/10.3389/esss.2023.10074

Walsh, S. D., Easton, L., Weng, Z., Wang, C., Moloney, J., and Feitz, A. 2021. Evaluating the economic fairways for hydrogen production in Australia. International Journal of Hydrogen Energy, 46(73), 35985-35996. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijhydene.2021.08.142

Wang, C., Walsh, S., Feitz, A. and Haynes, M. 2023. Seasonal complementarity of Australian renewable hydrogen and ammonia exports. Australian Hydrogen Research Conference, Canberra, 8-10 February 2023.

Walsh, S., Wang, C., Feitz, A and Haynes, M. 2023. Mapping the economic potential for the production of hydrogen and related green commodities. Australian Hydrogen Research Conference, Canberra, 8-10 February 2023.

HEFT website: https://portal.ga.gov.au/persona/heft

Bluecap repository: https://github.com/GeoscienceAustralia/bluecap

Higher degree studies supported:
Not applicable

 

Reviewed: August 2024