24 June 2023
Hydrogen Park Murray Valley a key step forward for renewable hydrogen
Australian Gas Infrastructure Group (AGIG) will soon commence construction on one of the most significant hydrogen production facilities in Australia – Hydrogen Park Murray Valley (HyP Murray Valley).
Expected to commence operations in mid 2025, the facility will produce renewable, hydrogen by using renewable electricity to split water into hydrogen and pure oxygen through a process called electrolysis. Hydrogen Park Murray Valley will deliver an up to 10% hydrogen blend into the existing natural gas supply to over 40,000 customers in the Albury-Wodonga region. This project will demonstrate the low carbon future of gas supply in Australia.
The facility will utilise a 10-megawatt electrolyser, which is eight times the capacity of the largest operational electrolyser in Australia, AGIG’s Hydrogen Park South Australia (HyP SA). This is consistent with the ongoing delivery and scaling up of hydrogen infrastructure in Australia.
AGIG’s Chief Executive Officer, Craig de Laine said the project represented a key step forward in the energy transition.
“As an additional supply of energy, renewable hydrogen has substantial potential to support Australia’s low-carbon objectives. Our HyP SA project, commissioned in May 2021, has been using excess renewable electricity to produce renewable hydrogen, demonstrating the potential of hydrogen as well as highlighting the synergies that exist between renewable electricity and renewable gases."
“Now we’re deploying hydrogen’s potential at a much larger scale as well as enabling broader opportunities for decarbonising hard-to-abate sectors across Victoria and New South Wales."
“Using hydrogen as part of our low-carbon energy tool kit, we can better deliver a low risk, stable and secure low-carbon future for customers. We are proud to bring these exciting renewable gas projects to life to support our communities, industry and governments to deliver on their low-carbon objectives."
“AGIG is committed to playing its part in supporting Australia’s climate objectives, which are aligned to our own low-carbon goals. We strongly believe that hydrogen, and renewable gas more broadly, will be critical if we are to achieve our ambitious low-carbon targets. HyP Murray Valley and other projects like it are key to supporting that transition.”
HyP Murray Valley is supported by grant funding from the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) and the Victorian Government, with additional financial backing from the Clean Energy Finance Corporation (CEFC).
“We thank the Australian and Victorian Governments, all our key project partners and the local community of Albury-Wodonga for their strong support, as well as our own team who have been dedicated to the project,” said Mr de Laine.
“AGIG owns a world-class gas distribution system across Australia, including in the Albury-Wodonga region, which HyP Murray Valley will supply. This reflects that the majority of our pipelines have already been upgraded to hydrogen-compatible materials, which means that we can deliver renewable hydrogen to our customers safely, reliably and at little additional cost.”
The project is ideally located on the Hume Highway as a potential supply for future renewable hydrogen refuelling stations along one of Australia’s busiest transport routes.
It is also co-located with North-East Water’s West Wodonga Wastewater Treatment Plant, which provides potential future synergies to use reclaimed water to produce renewable hydrogen in the future, and in turn for AGIG to provide North-East Water with the pure oxygen it requires in the wastewater treatment process.
The project aims to participate in Greenpower’s Renewable Gas Certification Pilot to create Renewable Gas Guarantee of Origin (RGGO) certificates, which will be used by global company Mars Petcare Australia to deliver on its own net-zero targets by 2040.
Supporting Quotes
ARENA, Chief Executive Officer, Darren Miller:
"Producing renewable hydrogen on this scale has never been done in Australia. The lessons we learn here will help inform our hydrogen industry as it grows from its early stages to a pillar of the net zero economy. What’s exciting about this project is that it will be producing hydrogen that reduces local emissions from day one, with the potential to supply additional markets as they move towards net zero.”
CEFC, Executive Director Hydrogen, Rupert Maloney:
“Hydrogen has the potential to make a substantial contribution to our net zero transition, reducing emissions across the economy while underpinning the development of an important domestic and export industry. We are pleased to participate in debt financing for one of Australia’s largest renewable hydrogen plants as a key step in the ongoing development of this exciting part of our sustainable economy of the future.”
North East Water, Managing Director, Jo Murdoch:
“North East Water is excited to be collaborating with AGIG on Hydrogen Park Murray Valley, to explore circular economy opportunities that could have major benefits for the region. The hydrogen facility’s close proximity to our wastewater treatment plant paves the way for potential biogas and recycled water transfer as well as oxygen reuse in our treatment process – all of which would reduce emissions, waste and energy costs, helping to keep customer bills affordable.”
GreenPower, Acting Chair of the National GreenPower Steering Group, Manuel Weirich:
“Voluntary markets based on trusted certification can accelerate renewable fuel uptake and help bring new renewable gas projects online sooner."
“AGIG’s HyP Murray Valley project collaborating with GreenPower, Mars, Energy Australia and the PPA counterparty demonstrates the full supply chain for renewable fuels from power generation to the end use of hydrogen.”
AusNet, General Manager Network Strategy and Planning, Rod Jones:
“As we accelerate towards a sustainable energy future, AusNet is at the forefront of the energy transformation and collaborating with AGIG to power the Hydrogen Park Murray Valley project is the next chapter in decarbonisation of Victorian gas distribution network."
Background
AGIG owns, operates and invests in infrastructure which delivers gas to more than two million homes and businesses. It powers generators, mines, manufacturers and household appliances and the combined network makes AGIG one of the largest gas infrastructure businesses in Australia.
AGIG manages over 40,000km of world-class distribution networks, more than 4,300km of transmission pipelines and 60 petajoules of storage capacity, valued at a combined $10 billion. We employ approximately 400 Australians with more than 1,600 contractors working on our business.
AGIG is leading the Australian renewable hydrogen industry, with the establishment of Hydrogen Park SA, the largest electrolyser in Australia, the construction of Hydrogen Park Murray Valley and several other renewable hydrogen and biomethane projects in development.
AGIG has a low carbon vision to deliver 100% renewable gas by no later than 2050, with at least 10% renewable gas blends to homes and businesses by 2030, in line with emissions reduction targets.
For Further Information Contact
Rachel Cameron – Head of Corporate Affairs
M +61 425 199 184, mediaenquiries@agig.com.au