“Hydrogen Park SA provides an opportunity to develop an Australian-first integrated hydrogen project that paves the way for the commercial deployment of a hydrogen economy. It propels South Australia’s status as a leader in renewable technology and a first mover in hydrogen.” Ben Wilson, Chief Executive, Australian Gas Networks
Adelaide-based Australian Gas Networks (AGN), part of the Australian Gas Infrastructure Group (AGIG), owns gas distribution assets across Australia, including in South Australia.
Hydrogen Park South Australia (HyP SA) is an $11.4 million demonstration project delivered and funded by AGN, supported by a $4.9 million grant from the South Australian Government. The proposed facility comprises a 1.25 MW Siemens proton exchange membrane electrolyser, the largest of its kind installed in Australia.
Based at the Tonsley Innovation District in metropolitan Adelaide, HyP SA removes carbon from our gas supply as South Australia advances towards net-zero emissions by 2050. From mid-2020, for an initial period of five years, AGN will produce renewable hydrogen using renewable electricity and water.
AGN will supply more than 700 properties in the nearby suburb of Mitchell Park with a blend of 5 per cent renewable hydrogen in natural gas, delivered through the existing gas network. Customers receiving the 5 per cent renewable gas blend will not notice any difference about the quality of gas received and are not required to make any change to their appliances. The amount paid for gas will be no different from the cost of 100 per cent natural gas.
The project will demonstrate the feasibility of blending hydrogen into the South Australian gas network and inform the South Australian Government’s planning to transition the gas distribution network. It will also show how integrating electrolysers into the electricity networks can support energy stability, as more renewable electricity generation capacity comes onto the grid.
Having completed the front-end engineering and design study and ordered the electrolyser, AGN is now working towards securing regulatory and development approvals and procuring land. Community and stakeholder consultation on the project began in July 2019.
HyP SA is considering installation of tube-trailer filling facilities as an expansion opportunity that will enable the transport of hydrogen so it can be blended into other points in the network, as well as hydrogen vehicle refuelling, industrial use and potentially export.
HyP SA is AGN’s first step to lowering carbon emissions and is part of its broader aim to blend up to 10 per cent renewable hydrogen in South Australia and across the other regions AGN serve, before consideration of 100 per cent hydrogen conversion.
AGN is also actively working with Australian Governments, including the South Australian Government and industry, to establish the Australian Hydrogen Centre, that will externalise learnings from HyP SA and deliver feasibility studies related to increased hydrogen blending, and 100 per cent hydrogen conversion on Australian towns, cities and states.
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