On Monday Energy Minister Matt Kean visited the Port Kembla steelworks to announce the Net Zero Industry and Innovation program.

Read more: Man dies after crashing into power pole

It included $380 million to help existing industries introduce low-emissions alternatives and $175 million to set up low-carbon industries such as green hydrogen to create future jobs.

There was also $195 million to research and develop new clean technologies to decarbonise while also boosting the economy.

"NSW was one of the first jurisdictions in the world to set a net zero objective, but we must get there in a way that grows the economy, makes our businesses and industry more competitive and puts us ahead of the pack in the low-carbon global economy," Mr Kean said.

"The $750 million fund will help industries and companies like BlueScope to modernise their plant equipment, decarbonise their footprint but also support jobs and grow their business."

BlueScope's Chief Executive of the Australian Steel Products division John Nowlan said the funding would help the steelmaker get new technologies up and running.

"We've got a lot of ideas of potential focus that we can work on that can reduce our carbon footprint," Mr Nowlan said.

"Ultimately some of those projects are cutting-edge and on the bounds of what works economically. Some of this support from the government can potentially help us to get projects up that would otherwise not be able to get up."

Mr Kean said the funding would be granted through a competitive tender process and expressions of interest opened in April.

The Energy Minister also announced that Port Kembla would be the site of the state's first hydrogen hub.

"We want to make the Illawarra the world leader when it comes to hydrogen, so we're turning the Illawarra into a hydrogen hub," Mr Kean said.

"That means investing in the technologies that will help produce hydrogen, ensuring that we've got businesses that are ready to take that hydrogen.

"A business like BlueScope that currently relies on a lot of gas, as they move to create their steel with a lower carbon footprint, they're going to need technologies like hydrogen."

Mr Nowlan said the steelmaker saw the benefits of the plan.

"We think it's a wonderful opportunity that this hydrogen hub would be established in Port Kembla because that ecosystem can help us in the short term, but it can also help us in the longer term with the carbon emissions from steelmaking," he said.

We depend on subscription revenue to support our journalism. If you are able, please subscribe here. If you are already a subscriber, thank you for your support.

Subscribe to our newsletters