One of Australia’s largest energy utilities says clean hydrogen has the potential to become a viable fuel capable of replacing natural gas in power plants within a decade, eliminating the need to consider building expensive nuclear generators.
Green hydrogen – the name for hydrogen made using renewable energy – burns cleanly, meaning it could provide the same emissions-free back-up for the grid during times of low wind and solar generation as nuclear. Power companies and the Australian Energy Market Operator believe “peaking” plants like Tallawarra B will be key to ensuring a smooth transition to renewables because they are emit less and can turn on and off more quickly than coal, and can dispatch power for longer durations than big batteries.But Tallawarra B comes with an added capability: in addition to gas, its turbine can run on an initial 5 per cent hydrogen, which causes no greenhouse gas emissions.
The Grattan Institute calculates that the lowest-cost road to net zero emissions for the Australian electricity sector is for renewables to supply 90 per cent of the grid, and gas to supply the last 10 per cent.While cautioning that there is much “hype” around hydrogen’s promise as a tool decarbonise any number of emissions-intensive processes, Grattan says supplying industrial heat for manufacturing and back-up power generation for the grid are among the areas where it has the most potential.
EnergyAustralia is assessing the feasibility of using hydrogen in Tallawarra B’s fuel mix by the end of 2025, but says that timing will depend on the development of a hydrogen manufacturing industry of an appropriate size and scale to supply it.
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