The UK and Australian governments have launched a AU$10 million (£5.3 million) joint funding programme to support the development of green hydrogen technologies.
The Australia-UK Renewable Hydrogen Innovation Partnerships Program will harness co-contributions from both Australian and UK proponents, as well as funding from the UK government.
Innovate UK, a government agency, will work with Australia’s Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water’s (DCCEEW) matching up to £5 million in investments to support UK partners working on these joint projects.
Funding will be granted to support the research, development and demonstration of green hydrogen technologies, and its application for industry and transport decarbonisation – especially for hard-to-decarbonise industries such as iron and steel making.
Proposals must be made by business-led collaborations between UK and Australian registered businesses, with total costs not exceeding £2 million.
The UK government is demonstrating its support for the development of green hydrogen as 2023 draws to a close. Last week, the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) announced the first successful green hydrogen production projects from the first hydrogen allocation round (HAR1), following its launch in July 2022. Collectively the 11 projects are set to deliver 125MW of green hydrogen for UK businesses.