Calls to incorporate hydrogen into the federal government's proposed Kurri Kurri power generator are gaining momentum.
It follows the announcement this week that the Hunter will host one of 13 hydrogen clusters across Australiaas part of a push to support growth and industry collaboration within the emerging multi-billion dollar green fuel industry.
The federal government is due to announce in April whether it will proceed with the 500 megawatt generator, which is designed to offset capacity that will be lost when the Liddell coal-fired power station closes in 2023.
The original plan was to fuel the Kurri project, which would be built by Snowy Hydro, from either the existing Sydney to Newcastle gas pipeline or the yet to be built Narrabri coal seam gas project.
There are also plans to incorporate a large solar farm into the project.
Executive director of the University of Newcastle's Institute for Energy and Resources Alan Broadfoot told the Newcastle Herald the project would be a good fit for hydrogen co-generation.
"It is certainly possible for them to incorporate hydrogen into it," Professor Broadfoot said.
"It's an opportunity to at least have a demonstration site of the technology. It's about fuel blending; it (hydrogen) can be an offset as part of a demonstration to prove new technology.
"To incorporate multiple solar cells you have got to be able to synchronise it with a signal, which is AC (alternating current). You need a turbine to do that but the reality is that hydrogen is a substitute for coal seam gas.
"It's something you can augment into a solar farm and you can produce hydrogen as a byproduct using the solar and then store the hydrogen into a plant that can be used kick the solar back into the grid."
Snowy Hydro chief executive Paul Broad said hydrogen was not currently part of the fuel mix for the proposed Kurri Kurri plant.
"Snowy Hydro is aware of the significant potential for the development of hydrogen technologies and supportive of the Hunter becoming a hydrogen cluster," he said.
"However, at this stage we have not considered it in the context of the proposed Hunter Power Project at Kurri Kurri."
Also among those keen to explore the possibility of incorporating hydrogen into the Kurri project is NSW MLC Taylor Martin.
MrMartin, who is chair of a parliamentary inquiry into the development of a hydrogen industry in NSW, said hydrogen would play a key role in the government's recently released electricity infrastructure roadmap.
"The roadmap highlighted the substantial economic opportunity presented by developing a hydrogen industry in NSW, including through the production, application, storage and export of hydrogen," he said.
"Some of Australia's largest trading partners, including Japan and South Korea, are committed to using hydrogen as a means to decarbonise their economy. NSW has historically been an energy exporter and we must ensure that we maximise our role in the international hydrogen economy to maintain a strong export base as the world looks for zero-emission energy sources."
Among the major issues that the Upper House hydrogen committee will examine are the economic and employment opportunity created by the development of a hydrogen industry, particularly in regional areas, the capacity of and barriers to NSW becoming a major production, storage and export hub for hydrogen and the economics of hydrogen's use in different sectors of the economy.
The Hunter Hydrogen Cluster's partners include the University of Newcastle, TAFE, HunterNet, the Hunter Business Chamber and the Australian Industry Group.
Submissions to the hydrogen parliamentary inquiry close on February 26.
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