The Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) has today announced $1.25 million in funding for Stanwell to assess the feasibility of a renewable hydrogen demonstration plant co-located near Stanwell Power Station in Central Queensland.

Stanwell is aiming to encourage the growth of a hydrogen export industry in Central Queensland which would drive energy load growth in the region, ease pressure on the electricity network and support the growth of renewable energy.

Stanwell’s $5 million feasibility study commenced in July last year and is investigating the technical and commercial feasibility of the installation of 10MW or greater of hydrogen electrolysis.

The deployment of a large scale electrolyser will demonstrate a pathway to hydrogen industry scale-up and export from Central Queensland in the medium term.

Along with determining the technical design, configuration and options for utilising the existing infrastructure at the site, a key outcome of the study will be to define the highest value end use for the renewable hydrogen.

Stanwell is committed to developing a green, carbon neutral product. The project will purchase energy and green certificates from renewable energy projects in the region equivalent to 100 per cent of energy requirements and/or co-fire biomass to cover the energy requirements of the production process.