How the planned 'hydrogen hub' near Whyalla could help Australia's gas crisis

Soaring power and gas prices have put the national spotlight on energy but, even before the current crisis, big business and governments had begun turning their attention to hydrogen as one of the answers to meet the demand for clean and reliable energy. Key points: The SA government has committed $593 million over four years to creating a hydrogen facility in Whyalla The facility will allow the state to produce and store hydrogen energy Experts say hydrogen could form an important part of Australia's energy mix and help reduce our reliance on gas Clean energy experts say a hydrogen project near Whyalla on South Australia's Eyre Peninsula could help to provide answers to how the process of making and storing hydrogen energy can best be done. "One of the characteristics of solar and wind is that they are only available when the sun is shining and when the wind is blowing and sometimes that's not the case, so one of the possible roles of hydrogen is to be there when those two are not available," Mr Wood said. Associate Professor of energy economics at the University of Adelaide, Liam Wagner, said that could also be a benefit to the hydrogen plant near Whyalla, given there is a steelworks nearby. Mr Crafter said there was opportunity to use the current excess of solar and wind power, turn it into green hydrogen or later green ammonia and export it overseas to Japan, Korea or Europe.