The first quarter of the year has been non stop for us at H2Q.

I was delighted to reconnect with so many of you and see some new faces in person at our recent Port Office Hotel event. Thankyou to our member Phil Richardson at Stanwell for an extremely informative presentation. It generated more debate then we had time for on the night.

H2Q is planning more events over coming months to provide you with the opportunity to connect and build your network. This first quarter of the year H2Q has  continued to show you how we facilitate the connections that matter. No other collaborations are more important to us than those with the clusters and groups that meet regularly, signing MOUs and forming consortia to overcome the paradox challenges embarking in new industry development can and does present.

I was excited to present and attend the NQH2 event in Townsville earlier in the month. NQH2 and their members are quietly getting on with the challenges building industry confidence in a hydrogen future industry. Spurred on by the fantastic $70 million hydrogen hub commitment from both Labor and the Coalition. H2Q and NQH2 are aligned in the value of true collaboration, and in our strategic growth plans to ensure that clusters are performing the role of the rising tide.

Last Week at the CEDA Future Fuels function Minister for Energy, Renewables and Hydrogen Mick de Brenni made a powerful speech in which he outlined his plans for Queensland to be a hydrogen powerhouse. Starting with the tri-lateral MOU that will deliver a hydrogen refuelling network connecting Brisbane with Sydney and Melbourne. The Minister indicated his desire for the heavy freight sector to transition to hydrogen and in his words start “trucking on sunshine”. 

Achieving this goal will require increase in the supply of vehicles which is currently constrained by Australia’s unique design specifications and road access requirements. There are many challenges ahead and they are not just the scalability of projects and ability to generate sufficient volumes of green hydrogen. 

Adding to the availability of green hydrogen as fuel for heavy vehicles the Minister announced the Kogan renewable hydrogen demonstration plant. Government will provide $28.9 million towards the project from the government’s $2 billion Queensland Renewable Energy and Hydrogen Jobs Fund.

The Minister also announced the initial recipients of round 2 Hydrogen Industry Development Funding (HDIF) including:

• Emerald Coaches, $2.7 million for hydrogen buses to carry mine workers and school children in the Bowen Basin.
• SeaLink hydrogen powered ferry that will carry up to 200 people from Gladstone Marina to Curtis Island. Government will provide $5 million of the overall $20 million project. 

The HDIF Round 2 has two priorities to fund transport projects and waste water treatment to hydrogen projects. Stay tuned for the next round of project announcements no doubt focused on the water treatment component of the fund.