Port Kembla might have Australia's first commercial hydrogen refuelling station, but a local trucking company owner said it was a case of wait and see if the sector would switch to hydrogen.
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The Coregas hydrogen refuelling station was unveiled to politicians and industry figures at an event on Friday morning July 28.
Coregas itself will use the hydrogen pump to power two trucks which deliver gases to commercial and industrial customers in the Illawarra and Sydney.
Waste contractor Remondis is also preparing to run one hydrogen powered garbage truck to service the Wollongong and Shellharbour LGAs which would fill up from the Port Kembla site.
However, Alan Ross, of Ross Transport in Port Kembla, said while hydrogen would be the long term solution for trucking, his business would not be able to wear the additional cost of new, hydrogen powered trucks.
"My customers will not put up with an increase, I'm having enough trouble with the fuel levies," he said.
The long wait for new vehicles was also a disincentive, Mr Ross said.
"I've got two Hilux utes ordered. Twelve months I've had them on order and they're still another two months away and they are the most sold car in Australia."
The $2 million refuelling station was supported with a $500,000 grant from the NSW government under the Port Kembla Community Investment Fund. Alan Watkins, executive general manager Coregas said the investment made sense for the business, which is owned by Perth based ASX-listed giant Wesfarmers.
"The business case worked for us, we've done this in a very pragmatic and cost effective way," he said. "We hope to convert our whole fleet, which is 12 vehicles here over the next couple of years, once we're confident in the technology, and we expect to see a number of other people coming on board with Remondis being the first mover."
The NSW government has trialled a hydrogen-powered bus in the Central Coast, as part of its rollout of a zero-emissions fleet across the state. For heavy vehicles, hydrogen provides a method of refuelling that is much quicker than recharging electric batteries. A refuel of a hydrogen truck can take between 10 and 15 minutes, instead of several hours to recharge an electric battery.
Planning minister and Wollongong MP Paul Scully said the government was looking at what options there were to run hydrogen powered buses in Wollongong.
"I know that bus companies locally are looking at how we might use hydrogen and other alternative fuels as part and parcel of their bus fleet into the future," he said.
The NSW government has set a deadline of 2035 for zero emissions buses in greater Sydney and 2040 for outer metropolitan areas.
Currently, the price of hydrogen produced in Port Kembla is $1.50 per trucking kilometre, while diesel is marginally cheaper at roughly $1 per kilometre, however the higher cost of hydrogen trucks is a significant stumbling block, with hydrogen trucks double the cost or more of diesel-powered alternatives.
While the trucks themselves will emit only water vapour, the process of producing hydrogen still leads to greenhouse gas emissions, hence the hydrogen being referred to as 'grey' on the colour spectrum.
Coregas has plans to turn the hydrogen green, by using biomethane from waste water treatment plants, but Mr Watkins said these initiatives would take some time to come to fruition.
"All of these things are off in the future, they take other investments," he said. "I do see a future where we're capturing biogas from landfill or wastewater treatment facilities and rather than letting it go into the atmosphere, we will be capturing that gas and using it in our networks, including in the production of hydrogen."
Minister for the Illawarra and South Coast Ryan Park said the refuelling station was the first step in reform to decarbonise the 7000 heavy vehicles that operate in the Illawarra.
"This is not the end of the reform, it's the start of the reform," he said. "What we're doing here is potentially changing the way in which we fuel our heavy vehicle fleet."
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