Green hydrogen approaching cost-competitiveness in Australia, says new study

A new extensive CEFC market study into the competitiveness of green hydrogen across 25 Australian industry sectors shows that green hydrogen is approaching cost-competitiveness in several sectors including heavy trucking, buses and remote power. It has the potential to become commercially viable across further sectors of transportation as early as 2030.

While hydrogen was closest to achieving commercial parity as an alternative to petroleum products, displacing natural gas provides a potential transitional use to reach scale at pace.

Ian Learmonth, CEO of CEFC, said, “There is enormous excitement around the potential to create green hydrogen to deliver a cleaner and more enduring energy source. As with any new technology, costs will decline over time.

“The purpose of this analysis is to give industry participants and investors an understanding of the potential economics for the uses of hydrogen in the Australian context, including potential early adopters.

“Our experience in developing the solar and wind sectors shows that prices decline rapidly as a new industry reaches scale and technical proficiency.

“It is encouraging to see a similar trajectory for the exciting hydrogen sector.”

The study also listed the introduction of a Guarantee of Origin certification scheme as an important regulatory development to accelerate the development of the Australian hydrogen industry. A Guarantee of Origin scheme is also identified as a priority action under the Australian Government’s National Hydrogen Strategy.

For more information, view the Australian hydrogen market study.