Australian fuel supplier Viva Energy has placed orders for a 2.5MW electrolyser from manufacturer Nel as part of a project to establish Australia’s first hydrogen refuelling station in Geelong.

The station will provide battery charging as well as hydrogen refuelling. It has received initial state approvals, and construction is due to begin in 2023.

The containerised €4mn ($4mn) proton-exchange-membrane electrolyser system delivered by Nel will have a capacity up to 1t/d and will be situated on site.

“This project is an important milestone for Australia’s targeted efforts to decarbonise the mobility sector and create a local hydrogen economy,” says Raymond Schmid, vice-president of sales and marketing for Nel.

Industrial gases firm Air Liquide will provide a ‘fast fill’ hydrogen refuelling system, with the station used to fuel a fleet of at least 15 hydrogen fuel-cell heavy vehicles.

Foundation partners deploying vehicles in the first year of the project include  logistics firm Toll Group, which will use two vehicles delivering liquid fuels from Viva Energy’s Geelong refinery; logistics firm Comfortdelgro, which will operate two hydrogen-powered buses for use on Geelong city bus routes; waste management firm Cleanaway, which will operate two hydrogen-powered waste management vehicles for municipal waste collection; and waste and water firm Barwon Water, which will operate trucks for the collection of organic waste for recycling.

The project received a A$22.8mn ($15.3mn) grant from the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (Arena).

The government of Victoria also contributed A$1mn ($0.67mn) to the project via the Victorian government’s Renewable Hydrogen Commercialisation Pathways Fund.

Viva Energy hopes that the station will be the catalyst for a network of hydrogen refuelling stations extending from Geelong and Melbourne to Sydney and Brisbane.

 

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Author: Tom Young