Opportunities
Due to the proximity of diesel consuming businesses and industries, the potential local market for hydrogen is significant with an immediately adjacent captive market to progressively replace diesel with green hydrogen for heavy vehicles, trucks, trains, buses, boats, farm machinery, tourist resorts, smelters, abattoirs, logistics, packaging, mines (56 in total) and electricity generation (at remote locations) for multiple national and international companies.
The Region is both a starting point and a destination for heavy vehicles (B-Double trucks, 26 metres long with a Gross Combined Mass (GCM) of 68.5 tonnes) for the transportation of over 250,000 tonnes of horticulture. Heavy vehicles are required to travel long distances to reach destinations, moving south to Brisbane (1,140 km), Sydney (1,900 km), Melbourne (2,400 km) and Adelaide (2,500 km) consuming significant quantities of diesel annually. Diesel powered trains in the area carry 30 million tonnes (increasing to 50 million tonnes) of coal each year. These trains are required to travel between 400 km to 500 km one way to reach the adjacent NQBP Abbot Point Coal Terminal and consume in excess of 1 million tonnes of diesel annually.
In addition, over 15 multinational companies operating in the area have expressed in their annual reports the requirement for their business to meet their carbon neutral targets. This facility will provide the opportunity to accelerate the commitment to meet these targets.
Funding
The Australian Prime Minister has announced the Government’s target of cutting Australian emissions by 43% by 2030 from a 2005 baseline. The plan is to assist with the allocation of $76 billion of new investment in renewables.
The Powering Australia plan will prioritise growth and investment for the regions for new energy, manufacturing, and resources. The new targets will keep Australia on track for net zero by 2050. Commonwealth grants and concessional financing to 85% of construction costs have been secured by renewable energy developers.
There are four distinct political and environmental drivers in action – all of which converge on the east coast of North Queensland.
1. Australia’s plan to reach net zero target 2050
2. Developing Northern Australia policy
3. Great Barrier Reef 2050 Long Term Sustainability Plan
4. Queensland State Government Hydrogen Industry Strategy
The Commonwealth Government is providing significant grant funds to commercial enterprises to develop experience in the hydrogen cycle. This incremental step-by-step process will take many years and much treasure for Australian companies to learn what is already known by overseas enterprises.
The Prime Minister’s announcements regarding multiple streams for grants and concessional funding clearly demonstrate that the government is open for businesses to support the private sector in quickly developing a hydrogen industry.
The Government has made it clear that it is open to listening to the private sector to develop additional purpose-specific hydrogen funding opportunities in addition to the Australia Renewable Energy Agency Hydrogen Strategy, Future Fuels Fund and Vehicles Strategy ($250 million), Clean Energy Finance Corporation and the Modern Manufacturing Initiative.
The Reef 2050 Long Term Sustainability Plan is the Commonwealth and Queensland Government’s framework for protecting and managing the Great Barrier Reef. The Reef 2050 Plan is driving local enterprises to take action to reduce environmental risks and hence reputational risk – and to demonstrate clear action is being taken to reduce actual and perceived damage to the Great Barrier Reef.
The project will apply to access Commonwealth Grants to support the development and facility construction.