Hydrogen Stream Update
After the recent news about a collaboration between Valencia and Hamburg, the focus on ports has continued this week. Two Belgian sites – Antwerp and Zeebrugge – have signed a memorandum of understanding with the Chilean government at the COP26 climate conference in Glasgow, to speed up green hydrogen flows between South America and Western Europe. “This cooperation will remove the last barriers and gaps in the run-up to the effective start-up of green production, the establishment of the logistics chain between the continents, and the logistics in the Belgian seaports and their hinterland,” the Port of Antwerp wrote last week. The Belgian facilities are convinced the future Western European energy system will have to focus on solar and wind power, plus imported renewable hydrogen. Chile aims to produce the world’s cheapest green hydrogen by 2030 and wants to be among the top three exporters by 2040. The renewable hydrogen generated in Chile in the foreseeable future will primarily be used for domestic purposes.
The Australian government, through the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA), will deliver an extra AU$1.5 million (US$1.11 million) to support Macquarie Group’s Green Investment Group, the Port of Newcastle, and project partners, to conduct an AU$3 million study on the potential of a hub for the energy storage medium at Newcastle, the Ministry for Industry, Energy and Emissions Reduction wrote yesterday. The study will focus on the best location at the port for the hydrogen infrastructure. “Newcastle is the biggest port on the east coast, with 50% of its capacity available for future industry development, making it a great asset for the region to become one of the seven Clean Hydrogen Industrial Hubs my government is delivering,” said Australian prime minister Scott Morrison, adding Newcastle and the surrounding Hunter region will be a key part of the AU$1.2 billion (US$889 million) investment in Australia’s hydrogen industry
Author: Sergio Matalucci
This article was originally published in pv magazine and is republished with permission.
