National workshop series to develop future Hydrogen Industry Technology Cluster

The workshop series is being delivered by NERA - Australia’s Industry Growth Centre for energy resources – to connect informed energy industry stakeholders and develop a roadmap towards Cluster formation.

NERA will use feedback drawn from the workshop series to develop a national cluster strategy and pursue opportunities to link multiple state-based technology hubs, creating a virtual national network, connecting new, emerging and established technology providers with research and end users.

The future Cluster model will also act as a bridge between energy technology innovators and other initiatives such as those from state and federal government as well as research centres such as universities and CSIRO, to build on Australia’s existing energy industry knowledge, technological capabilities and infrastructure to ensure Australia is a major player in a global hydrogen industry.

The workshops will be held in each state and territory – including the regional energy centres of Gladstone, Darwin and Karratha – throughout February 2020. Each workshop event will identify and connect future Cluster members with leading Australian research organisations to support commercialisation of their IP in Australia, creating high value jobs, securing investment and ultimately driving hydrogen exports through a world-leading hydrogen supply chain of technology solutions and services.

The announcement of the Cluster workshop series and NERA’s role forms a key part of the National Hydrogen Strategy released by the Council for Australian Governments (COAG) in November 2019.

NERA CEO Miranda Taylor said the workshop series will build on the world-leading skills and domain knowledge that Australian energy innovators already possess.

“We know that Australian governments agree that clean hydrogen presents an opportunity for Australia to take the lead in the emerging global market for low and zero emissions energy,” Ms Taylor said.

“The Hydrogen Cluster is about taking this agreement to the next level and building capabilities and industry collaboration across the value chain to maximise the economic benefits by ensuring Australian companies are well placed to supply new technology, products and services.”

NERA will present its findings from the national workshop series following the Australian Hydrogen Conference on 1 April 2020 in Melbourne.

For more information on NERA’s national activities, visit nera.org.au or contact NERA Communications Manager Andrew Bennett at andrew.bennett@nera.org.au. For more information about the workshop series and the Hydrogen Cluster, please contact NERA Project Lead Jill Stajduhar at jill.stajduhar@nera.org.au.

About the National Hydrogen Strategy

The National Hydrogen Strategy has been developed by Australian Governments to create the necessary social and regulatory framework that allows the hydrogen industry to expand, and sets out the foundations needed for Australian businesses to develop a vibrant hydrogen industry that benefits all Australians, while meeting safety and community standards. The aim of the strategy is to:

• build a clean, innovative and competitive hydrogen industry;
• position Australia’s hydrogen industry as a major global player by 2030; and
• coordinate the approach to projects that support hydrogen industry development.

Cluster development forms a key part of NERA’s national initiatives that are supporting sector-wide transformational change and the development of a smart, high value, digital and export-focussed supply chain. Together these activities can unlock +$10 billion of new value for the Australian economy.

The Hydrogen Industry Technology Cluster continues NERA’s strong track record of facilitating and funding the formation and development of two industry-led, energy related clusters — a subsea oil and gas cluster (Subsea Innovation Cluster Australia (SICA)) and an ocean energy cluster (Australian Ocean Energy Group (AOEG)