The University of Newcastle will host one of 13 hydrogen clusters across Australia as part of a push to support growth and industry collaboration within the emerging green fuel industry.
National Energy Resources Australia has awarded seed funding to the hydrogen clusters, spread across every state and territory, to support cooperation, aid the development of supply chains and support the commercialisation of new technologies.
"Today's announcement continues NERA's active role in coordinating collaborative opportunities to realise Australia's hydrogen potential across the hydrogen value chain and ensure that Australian companies are well placed to supply new technology, products and services to domestic and international markets," NERA said in a statement.
The University of Newcastle will host the cluster with 14 industry partners.
Each of the clusters has received between $75,000 and $250,000, sharing in a total of $1.75 million in funding, that will aid the required skills and expertise needed to establish a thriving green hydrogen industry in Australia, and to identify the necessary supply chain investments.
NERA expects the clusters could underpin the emergence of a multi-billion dollar hydrogen industry, which has the potential to establish Australia as a leading exporter of zero emissions energy, by tapping into Australia's ample resources of wind and solar energy.
"Today marks a great step forward in Australia's capability in developing hydrogen technologies," NERA chief executive Miranda Taylor said.
"These regional clusters, all of which have the support of their state and territory governments, have been established around key, existing hydrogen projects and technology supply chains in strategic locations that have a demonstrated capacity to support them."
"This will ensure long-term local cohesion and sustainable capability across the emerging hydrogen value chain."
Clusters are set to be hosted in the major cities of Brisbane, Canberra, Newcastle, and Darwin, as well as regional clusters in Karratha in WA and Clayton and Gippsland in Victoria.
Membership of the prospective clusters has been drawn from a wide range of industry stakeholders, including research institutions, energy companies, government departments, as well as representatives of the manufacturing and technology industries.
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