Illawarra leaders push green energy credentials at Canberra expo

Scores of leaders across business, academia and the not-for-profit sector headed down the Hume to put the Illawarra front and centre for politicians and decision makers leading the transition to net zero.

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Organiser Ty Christopher from the University of Wollongong said having all the representatives in the one place was a wake up call, both for exhibitors and visitors.

"The vibe from all the exhibitors was, 'Wow, we're really knocking it out of the park as a region here.' It's just incredible the breadth and depth of expertise, talent, activity, in innovation and in clean energy," Mr Christopher said. "For the visitors that were coming through, it was fair to say they were blown away."

Opened by federal climate change and energy minister Chris Bowen, the expo not only drew the attention of local leaders, but a significant international contingent.

"There's a great interest from the likes of Germany, France and the UK, of course," Mr Christopher said. "But there was a lot of interest from South America, given they're seeing the chance to almost leapfrog a generation of technology in their own clean energy journey, and tap into that expertise that exists here in Australia."

The full court press comes as the race to produce green hydrogen accelerates.

The South Australian government has earmarked over half a billion dollars for a green hydrogen plant in the steelmaking town of Whyalla. Proponents had to submit their bids by Tuesday.

The Commonwealth and the states are also pursuing a rewrite of the 2019 hydrogen strategy, in light of the surge of investment in pursuit of cheap, zero carbon hydrogen in the United States spurred on by generous subsidies as part of president Joe Biden's Inflation Reduction Act.

Federal grants for hydrogen hubs as part of the hydrogen strategy are targeted at priority regions, which include locations such as Gladstone in Queensland, the Pilbara in WA, the La Trobe Valley in Victoria, Whyalla in South Australia and the Hunter Valley in NSW.

The Illawarra is not included.

At the state level, the NSW government has pledged $28.5 million for a renewables-powered electrolyser at BOC in Port Kembla, as one of two successful projects under its hydrogen hubs grant program.

Grattan Institute energy expert Tony Wood said there was still a lot of uncertainty in the hydrogen field and that there was value in being a "fast follower", the position that BlueScope has taken in relation to using hydrogen in steel production.

"There's no reason why the Illawarra doesn't have the right combination of physical and human resources," he said. "Working out when's the best time to build what and who's going to buy it I think is where the challenge remains."

In 2020, to much fanfare, hydrogen car company H2X presented its plans to build utes and vans which emit only water in Port Kembla to business groups in the region. However two years later the company quietly moved south to Gippsland, where a Japanese consortium is investing $2.35 billion in a factory to extract hydrogen from brown coal through carbon capture and storage technology.

A H2X spokesman said the move was about tapping into the remnants of an automotive industry which existed in Victoria.

"Gippsland is more attractive for H2X due to the circular economy model by producing hydrogen, building up of refuelling stations and customer requests for vehicles," the spokesman said. "Access to a needed workforce and good support from the public and local council are also important."

Mr Christopher said investment so far had been shepherded towards former thermal coal mining regions, where the closure of coal-fired power stations and associated coal mines created an urgency for a new driver for regional economies.

"It's fair and reasonable that these other areas have got the first wave of attention, all we're trying to do is to make sure that from now onwards, everybody's part of the conversation, including the Illawarra."

While no region has yet cracked the magic threshold of producing green hydrogen for under $2 a kilo, Mr Christopher said this week's delegation to Canberra was about ensuring when that does happen, the Illawarra is front and centre.

"We are globally in a highly competitive environment for clean energy projects," he said. "A lot of the conversations we're having is saying, you need to focus on creating a level playing field for businesses, yes in the Illawarra, but also nationally. From Chris Bowen and his staff, we got a lot of nodding heads."

Those in the region will be hoping nodding heads turn into firm handshakes soon.

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