A call for tenders to supply at least six hydrogen cell buses for the Adelaide Metro fleet along with supporting production and refuelling infrastructure has been put out by the South Australian Government
The plan is party of a broader ‘Hydrogen Roadmap’ which has been designed to accelerate investment in hydrogen infrastructure and technologies in the state.
“Within two years, commuters in Adelaide will be able to ride on the first of a fleet of hydrogen-powered buses using locally-produced fuel,” Mineral Resources and Energy Minister Tom Koutsantonis says.
“Within three years, South Australia will have the capacity to export its first hydrogen supplies produced using our renewable energy assets. “Within a decade South Australian motorists should be able to drive from Ceduna to Mt Gambier in a hydrogen-fuelled vehicle topping up at a state-wide network of refuelling stations.
Hydrogen offers an opportunity to create a new industry in South Australia where we can export our sun and wind resources to the world, according to Koutsantonis.
“If we move now; South Australia can lead the nation in the transition to a clean, safe and sustainable hydrogen economy.”
Toyota director of hydrogen mobility Australia Bernie O’Connor says that with Australia’s abundance of sun, wind and hydro; we are ideally placed to transition away from a reliance on finite fossil fuels to renewable energy.
“Hydrogen will play a key role as a source for stationary, distributed and transportation power generation,” he says.
“Our long-term vision is a future hydrogen economy and society built upon clean and renewable energy technologies.”
The South Australian Government will also release an interactive map to provide investors and project developers with a tool to identify sites that are suitable for hydrogen infrastructure within South Australia, as part of the $150 million Renewable Technology Fund.
The Roadmap was developed following close consultation with industry, Ministerial visits to South Korea and Japan and South Australia’s Green Hydrogen Study.
Japan and South Korea as hosts of the next summer and winter Olympic Games are among nations aiming to transition their economies to use hydrogen as an alternative zero-carbon emitting fuel source.
Hydrogen can be produced from renewable sources such as wind or solar through a process called electrolysis. Surplus electricity from renewable generators is used in an electrolyser to split clean water into hydrogen and oxygen. That hydrogen can then be used in a hydrogen fuel cell to power vehicles in South Australia, or exported around the world.
Submissions for the supply of the six hydrogen cell buses can be made via the SA Tenders website and close on October 9.