Australian Hydrogen Hubs Study

Arup have conducted interviews with targeted industry and government stakeholders to gather data and perspectives to support the development of this study. Arup have also utilised private and publicly available data sources, building on recent work undertaken by Geoscience Australia and Deloitte, and the comprehensive stakeholder engagement process to inform our research. This study considers the supply chain and infrastructure requirements to support the development of export and domestic hubs. The study aims to provide a succinct “Hydrogen Hubs” report for presentation to the hydrogen working group.

The hydrogen supply chain infrastructure required to produce hydrogen for export and domestic hubs was identified along with feedback from the stakeholder engagement process. These infrastructure requirements can be used to determine the factors for assessing export and domestic hub opportunities. Hydrogen production pathways, transportation mechanisms and uses were also further evaluated to identify how hubs can be used to balance supply and demand of hydrogen.

A preliminary list of current or anticipated locations has been developed through desktop research, Arup project knowledge and the stakeholder consultation process. Over 30 potential hydrogen export locations have been identified in Australia through desktop research and the stakeholder survey and consultation process. In addition to establishing export hubs, the creation of domestic demand hubs will be essential to the development of an Australian hydrogen economy. It is for this reason that a list of criteria has been developed for stakeholders to consider in the siting and design of hydrogen hubs. The key considerations explored are based on demand, supply chain infrastructure, and investment and policy areas.

Based on these considerations, a list of criteria were developed to assess the viability of export and domestic hydrogen hubs. Criteria relevant to assessing the suitability of export and domestic hubs include:

• Health and safety provisions;
• Environmental considerations;
• Economic and social considerations;
• Land availability with appropriate zoning and buffer distances & ownership (new terminals, storage, solar PV, industries etc.);•
• Availability of gas pipeline infrastructure;
• Availability of electricity grid connectivity, backup energy supply or co-location of renewables;
• Road & rail infrastructure (site access);
• Community and environmental concerns and weather. Social licence consideration;
• Berths (berthing depth, ship storage, loading facilities, existing LNG and/or petroleum infrastructure etc.);
• Port potential (current capacity & occupancy, expandability & scalability);
• Availability of, or potential for, skilled workers (construction & operation);
• Availability of, or potential for, water (recycled & desalinated);
• Opportunity for co-location with industrial ammonia production and future industrial opportunities;
• Interest (projects, priority ports, state development areas, politics etc.);
• Shipping distance to target market (Japan & South Korea);
• Availability of demand-based infrastructure (i.e. refuelling stations).

A framework that includes the assessment criteria has been developed to aid decision making, rather than recommending specific locations that would be most appropriate for a hub. This is because there are so many dynamic factors that go into selecting a location of a hydrogen hub, that it is not appropriate to be overly prescriptive or prevent stakeholders from selecting the best location themselves, or from the market making decisions based on its own research and knowledge. The developed framework rather provides information and support to enable these decision-making processes.