Queensland

Queensland Hydrogen Industry Strategy

The Queensland Government released the Queensland Hydrogen Industry Strategy 2019-2024 (QHIS) in May 2019.

The Vision is “By 2030, Queensland is at the forefront of renewable hydrogen production in Australia, supplying an established domestic market and export partners with a safe, sustainable and reliable supply of hydrogen.”

Qld hydrogen report

Five focus areas were identified to support the development of a hydrogen industry in Queensland:

  • Supporting innovation
  • Facilitating private sector investment
  • Ensuring an effective policy framework
  • Building community awareness and confidence
  • Facilitating skills development for a new technology

The Queensland Jobs Fund brings together the Queensland Government’s current (May 2024) flagship industry development programs: key programs under the fund include:

Queensland Hydrogen Industry Development Fund

Supporting the Strategy, the Queensland Government allocated AUD$19 million over a four-year period to support hydrogen projects in Queensland.  This included AUD$15 million for the Hydrogen Industry Development Fund (HIDF) which was subsequently increased to an allocation of AUD$35 million.

Projects being supported through the HIDF include:

Queensland Renewable Energy and Hydrogen Jobs Fund

In late 2022, the Queensland Government announced an additional AUD$2.5 billion investment into renewable energy and hydrogen through the QREHJF, bringing the total fund to AUD$4.5 billion.

The QREHJF allows energy Government owned corporations to increase ownership of commercial renewable energy and hydrogen projects, as well as supporting infrastructure, including in partnership with the private sector.

As of May 2024, hydrogen-related projects funded through the QREHJF include:

Industry Partnership Program

The AUD$350 million Industry Partnership Program aims to spur investment through the following avenues:

  • Support manufacturing investment in Queensland along the renewables and hydrogen supply chain (including in electrolyser manufacturing capability).
  • Support the development of projects in the hydrogen and renewable industries.
  • Through increased demand for cleaner fuels, support expansion of the Queensland resources sector, especially for those crucial minerals (such as cobalt, copper, vanadium, scandium, etc.) required to support expansion of clean energy supply.

Commonwealth Regional Hydrogen Hubs Program

The October 2022-2023 federal budget released on 25 October 2022 confirmed funding awards to several Queensland based projects via the Commonwealth Government’s Regional Hydrogen Hubs Program.

Hub Implementation Grants

  • Stanwell Corporation’s Central Queensland Hydrogen Hub (CQ-H2 Hub) – up to AUD$69.2 million. In October 2023, in a joint release, the Australian and Queensland Governments announced they had reached agreement to invest AUD$69.2 million to develop the Central Queensland Hydrogen Hub in Gladstone.

Hub Development and Design Grants

In addition to the above awards through the Regional Hydrogen Hubs Program, in January 2024, the Australian Government announced an investment of up to AUD$70 million to Edify Energy and its partners to develop the Townsville Region Hydrogen Hub in north Queensland.

Queensland Energy and Jobs Plan

In September 2022, the Queensland Government released its Energy and Jobs Plan which included, amongst a range of announcements, that 70% of Queensland’s energy supply would come from renewables by 2032 (and 80% by 2035). With respect to hydrogen, the Plan includes the following points:

  • An investment of AUD$15 million to plan for hydrogen hubs in key locations (of which AUD$8.5 million has been allocated for the Abbot Point Activation Initiative).
  • AUD$5 million for a program to inform Queensland communities about the opportunities of renewable hydrogen.
  • Invest in a 200 MW hydrogen-ready gas peaking facility at Kogan Creek (targeting a 2026 operations date).
  • Preparation of legislation to support development of the hydrogen industry in the state.

Training and Skills Development

In July 2022, the Queensland’s Government launched the Hydrogen Industry Workforce Development Roadmap 2022-2032. The roadmap identifies four key focus areas and includes a list of investments in skills and training facilities of particular relevance to hydrogen:

  • AUD$20 million for upgrades to the Queensland Apprenticeships Centre, including a new Hydrogen Training Centre at Beenleigh, which was officially opened in November 2022.
  • AUD$17 million to build the Pinkenba Renewable Energy Training Facility for training in solar and other renewable energy equipment.
  • AUD$10.6 million to build a hydrogen and renewable energy training facility in Townsville.
  • AUD$2 million to upgrade facilities at Gladstone State High School to prepare students for entry into the hydrogen industry.
  • AUD$4 million for an energy training and skills strategy, consisting of electric vehicle skills fund, hydrogen skills fund and TAFE renewable energy strategy.

Partnerships and Other Initiatives

As a deliverable through the Strategy, in May 2020, the Queensland Government released the Queensland Hydrogen Investor Toolkit (‘Toolkit’) to assist investors planning to undertake hydrogen project developments in Queensland. This Toolkit has most recently been updated in April 2024.

In December 2020 (building on an earlier announcement in August 2019) the State Government announced it would undertake a three-year trial of five hydrogen fuel cell vehicles in its fleet. The vehicles became operational in August 2021 and is ongoing.

In October 2021, the Queensland Government announced it had agreed to the terms of a Memorandum of Understanding with the Port of Rotterdam in the Netherlands. The agreement would see Queensland and the Port of Rotterdam collaborate on opportunities to develop a hydrogen export supply chain between Queensland hydrogen producers and Rotterdam.

In March 2022, the Governments of Queensland, New South Wales and Victoria announced an agreement to collaborate on the development of an east coast renewable hydrogen refuelling network by 2026, focusing on the freight corridor routes of the Hume Highway, the Pacific Highway and the Newell Highway. The October 2022-23 federal budget, under the Driving the Nation Fund, includes an allocation by the Commonwealth of matched funding to that already committed by New South Wales and Victoria (AUD$20 million) and makes available the same amount to other jurisdictions on a matching basis (up to AUD$60 million, for a potential total Commonwealth outlay of AUD$80 million). The Queensland Government is investigating a Queensland Hydrogen Super highway along the state’s heavy haulage transport routes.

In October 2022, the Queensland Government released a state-wide study of Queensland’s renewable hydrogen production and export potential.

In February 2023, the Queensland Government announced that the AUD$983 million Fitzroy to Gladstone pipeline was officially approved for construction.  Amongst other things, the pipeline would support hydrogen projects under development with future water requirements. The pipeline is expected to be completed in late 2026.

Changes to the Petroleum and Gas (Production and Safety) Act 2004 and Gas Supply Act 2003 were made at the end of 2023 that extended existing pipeline provisions to apply to the transmission of hydrogen and other hydrogen carriers.  These changes applied the existing safety frameworks for pipelines in Queensland to hydrogen and other renewable gases, including the requirement to develop safety management systems and comply with safety requirements.

In February 2024, following the passing of the above-noted legislation, the Queensland Government released a consultation paper ‘An effective regulatory framework for Queensland’s hydrogen industry’; the consultation period for this paper closed on 1 March 2024.

In April 2024, Fortescue’s Gladstone Electrolyser Facility opened. The facility is the first stage of the wider Gladstone Green Energy Manufacturing (Gladstone GEM) Centre being developed by Fortescue on the 100-hectare site located on the Aldoga Industrial Estate in the Gladstone State Development Area.

In April 2024, the Queensland Government announced that construction was underway on the Aldoga Solar Farm (on the Central Queensland coast) which would produce electricity to power the proposed Central Queensland Hydrogen Project.

In June 2024, the Queensland Government announced, as part of its 2024/25 State Budget, the allocation of AUD$4 million to investigate the potential for natural hydrogen in the state.

Further information on hydrogen industry development in Queensland and contact details are available here and here.

 

Updated: June 2024