Australian Gas Networks (AGN) – part of Australian Gas Infrastructure Group (AGIG) – is pleased to announce that Hydrogen Park South Australia (HyP SA) has today commenced supply of 100% renewable hydrogen to industry via tube trailer. Renewable hydrogen produced at HyP SA will be transported to Whyalla for use in the production of high-purity argon supplied to the Whyalla steelworks and local industry.
Attending the launch at HyP SA was the South Australia Premier Peter Malinauskas, Minister for Energy and Mining Tom Koutsantonis, Minister for Trade and Investment Nick Champion, AGIG CEO Craig de Laine and BOC South Pacific Managing Director John Evans.
A BOC custom tube trailer will collect shipments of up to 370 kilograms of the renewable gas from HyP SA at the Tonsley Innovation District, as part of a partnership between AGN and BOC, a Linde company.
The new Adelaide-based hydrogen supply chain will replace current deliveries to BOC’s South Australian customers from Victoria, eliminating the costs associated with 117,000 kilometres in annual transport and saving approximately 122,000 kilograms of carbon emissions per year.
AGIG anticipates there will be weekly deliveries to the Steel City, under an agreement that establishes HyP SA as a hydrogen production hub.
In May 2021, HyP SA began supply of up to 5 per cent blended renewable gas to more than 700 homes in Mitchell Park, which has embraced its status as the recipients of Australia’s first renewable blended gas. By the end of this year, HyP SA will supply more than 3,000 homes in nearby suburbs with blended gas.
The facility can produce approximately 175 tonnes of hydrogen per annum, equal to the total gas use of around 1,500 South Australian homes, or tens of thousands of homes on a blended gas basis.
AGIG aims to deliver at least 10 per cent renewable gas across its distribution networks by 2030 and has a target of 100 per cent renewable gas by 2040, and by no later than 2050.
HyP SA at Tonsley is the first of several renewable hydrogen projects AGIG is developing around Australia. Pending approvals, Hydrogen Park Murray Valley in Victoria will be a 10-megawatt facility delivering up to a 10 per cent (by volume) renewable gas blend to more than 40,000 homes and businesses in Albury and Wodonga in 2024. Additionally, AGIG has announced plans for a 10 per cent blended gas project in Gladstone, Queensland.
Quotes attributable AGIG’s Chief Executive Officer Craig de Laine
This initiative is a fantastic example of how electricity and gas infrastructure can work together to deliver a cleaner future.
This new production source at HyP SA demonstrates the wider potential for this fuel and its ability to integrate into existing and future energy networks.
We are working on our plans to deliver carbon-free, renewable hydrogen to our more than 450,000 customers that rely on gas in South Australia.
Quotes attributable to Peter Malinauskas
Renewable hydrogen is a key part of our clean energy future, this exciting project is helping businesses push the frontiers of renewable hydrogen.
The real-life application of this facility reinforces widening community recognition of hydrogen’s benefits.
Quotes attributable to Tom Koutsantonis
HyP SA is Australia’s largest electrolyser and the first to deliver a renewable hydrogen blend to customers on the existing gas network so South Australia is really at the forefront of the nation’s hydrogen economy.
Quotes attributable to Nick Champion
South Australia continues its status as a leader in the emerging hydrogen industry, which will open new trade markets and opportunities, contributing to the state’s continued prosperity.
Quotes attributable to John Evans, BOC South Pacific Managing Director
BOC will now commence supplying green hydrogen to South Australian customers and be able to support demand for zero emissions fuel across energy, storage, transport and other industrial applications.
The green hydrogen will also be used for combustion in our Whyalla Argon Purification Unit which makes high purity argon used in industrial processes and welding gases.
We’re proud to be partnering with AGIG and the South Australian Government to deliver this significant milestone for the HyP SA facility and demonstrate the immediate value that a green source of hydrogen can have on South Australian industry.
About AGIG
Australian Gas Infrastructure Group (AGIG) is one of Australia’s largest gas infrastructure businesses with operations across every mainland state and the Northern Territory supplying approximately 2 million customers. Operations include 40,000km of distribution and transmission gas pipelines, 60 petajoules of gas storage capacity, gas processing facilities and remote power generation.
As a business, we are actively scaling-up and delivering renewable gas across the country. We are leading the industry on the pathway to cleaner energy through Australia’s largest renewable hydrogen project at Hydrogen Park South Australia. We have committed to deliver a number of renewable gas projects across the country and across the value chain
AGIG’s vision is to be the leading gas infrastructure business in Australia – by delivering for customers, being a good employer, and being sustainably cost efficient.
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