SYDNEY (Reuters) – The South Australia government on Tuesday announced plans to push ahead with new legislation that it said would help speed up the production of hydrogen in the state.
The new dedicated hydrogen legislation will license and regulate the production of hydrogen in South Australia, Premier Peter Malinauskas said in a statement released at the Hydrogen Conference underway in Adelaide.
The legislation will provide a single access point into government for licensing and regulating hydrogen generation projects, similar to what has been afforded to the oil, gas and geothermal industries in South Australia, the statement said.
The scope of the new law will cover manufacturing of all forms of hydrogen, including green hydrogen made from renewable energy, and blue hydrogen manufactured from methane in conjunction with carbon capture and storage to permanently sequester the associated carbon dioxide emissions, it said.
The state Labor government told the conference it was calling for designs and delivery concepts for the construction of its new hydrogen facility in the city of Whyalla.
South Australia, which has over 60% of its energy generated by wind and solar, is targeting 100% net renewables by 2030 and wants to be a world-class clean hydrogen supplier.
Hydrogen development is one area of energy policy that both sides of politics in the country have backed.
Australia’s Labor Party ended nearly a decade of conservative rule this month, with the incumbent Liberal government being swept away by a wave of support for candidates seeking more action on climate change.
(Reporting by Praveen Menon; Editing by Lincoln Feast.)
