March 20, 2025 [Financial Post]- Australia’s government has awarded as much as A$814 million ($516 million) in funding to a green hydrogen project, even as global confidence in the clean-energy technology wavers.
The 1.5 gigawatt Murchison Green Hydrogen Project in Western Australia is the first to be granted funds under the Hydrogen Headstart program, the Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water said in a statement on Thursday. The development will create about 3,600 construction jobs, plus another 600 other roles, it said. It will produce almost 2 million tons of green ammonia a year, and will cost an estimated A$15 billion.
The Hydrogen Headstart program had shortlisted six applicants, though none of the projects are considered “bankable” — or able to meet criteria including minimum costs — after sponsors left or they were paused, project ratings agency HySights Pte Ltd. said in a report.
The global hydrogen sector is struggling with canceled projects and sluggish demand. Three developers have announced changes to projects in recent weeks, BloombergNEF said in a report this month, as the industry grapples with political uncertainty and rising costs. A plan by Australian miner Fortescue Ltd. to become a green hydrogen heavyweight, championed by its billionaire founder Andrew Forrest, was also scaled back last year.
The Murchison project is being developed by Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners, and will use solar and wind powered by hydrogen, converting it to green ammonia for export.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s Labor government had been aggressively pushing Australia to develop a clean hydrogen sector, putting in place more than $5 billion of incentives over the next decade to support the nascent industry. The upcoming elections could threaten that, however, as the opposition coalition has been less enthusiastic on the sector’s prospects.
“This support is about unlocking that private capital to help realize our potential, not only to become a renewable energy superpower but create a future made in Australia with real jobs right now,” Chris Bowen, minister for climate change and energy, said in the statement.
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