Senior executives from the J-Power and Sumitomo Corporation Joint Venture (JPSC JV) attended the recent Gippsland Hydrogen Roadmap Launch at Morwell’s Innovation Centre.
The launch was hosted by Latrobe City Mayor Kellie O’Callaghan and included presentations from Former Chief Scientist Dr Alan Finkel, CarbonNet Executive Director Jane Burton and Richard Bolt from Nous Group.
Attendees from Victorian Government, Energy Australia, Federation University and TAFE Gippsland, gathered to hear about the opportunity for a clean hydrogen industry in the Gippsland region.
The roadmap outlines the various economic and clean energy opportunities for the Gippsland region as it prepares for future power station closures.
The Committee recognised the need for a variety of clean hydrogen production pathways, including electrolysis of water powered by renewable energy and coal gasification, combined with carbon capture and storage.
This pragmatic approach provides the smoothest transition for a region that has powered Victoria for the last century while also enabling Victoria to meet its net zero emission reduction targets.
The speakers spoke of Gippsland’s natural advantages to support a clean hydrogen industry including; a skilled workforce, existing transmission infrastructure, abundant lignite resource, broad community acceptance, and a long history of energy production.
“As soon as possible, blue hydrogen and CCUS should be commercialised as the core of a chemical industry which produces ammonia, urea and other valuable derivatives. This transformation has already begun with the announcement of Japanese government support for commercialisation of the HESC project.” (Gippsland Hydrogen Roadmap, Gippsland Hydrogen Cluster, Committee for Gippsland, Sept 2023)