Australia and Germany have announced funding of around $90mn for hydrogen projects under their joint venture first unveiled in September 2020.
Canberra through the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (Arena) committed A$50mn ($36.6mn) to hydrogen supply chain projects, with Germany committing an additional €50mn (54.4mn) to projects that successfully applied for funding.
The funding will be allocated through the Australia-Germany Hydrogen Innovation and Technology Incubator, known as Hygate, which is one of three initiatives developed as part of the Australia-Germany hydrogen accord signed in June 2021.
The other two initiatives under the accord are to facilitate industry-to-industry co-operation on demonstration projects in Australian hydrogen hubs and exploring options to facilitate the trade of hydrogen and its derivatives produced from renewables, such as ammonia, from Australia to Germany. This includes through Germany's H2Global Initiative, which supports long-term supply agreements with German industry, Australian energy minister Angus Taylor said.
The H2Global Initiative is a policy to encourage imports to Germany of green hydrogen, which is produced using renewable energy, from 2024.
Australia released its national hydrogen strategy in November 2019. Berlin announced the German hydrogen strategy in June 2020.
