❓ The Minister for Energy provides an update on the Denham hydrogen project, a hydrogen-powered microgrid, and its potential for regional communities, the WA economy, and job creation. The answer highlights investments in standalone power systems and the Boundary Power project.
AnsweredQoN 118Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
HYDROGEN POWER PLANT
118. Mr K.J.J. MICHEL to the Minister for Energy:
I refer to the McGowan Labor
government's commitment to make Western Australia a leader in the
renewable hydrogen industry.
(1) Can the
minister update the house on the work that is underway to deliver Australia's
first community hydrogen power plant?
(2) Can the
minister outline to the house what investment in this technology could
potentially mean for regional communities as well as the Western Australian
economy and WA jobs?
118. Mr K.J.J. MICHEL to the Minister for Energy:
I refer to the McGowan Labor
government's commitment to make Western Australia a leader in the
renewable hydrogen industry.
(1) Can the
minister update the house on the work that is underway to deliver Australia's
first community hydrogen power plant?
(2) Can the
minister outline to the house what investment in this technology could
potentially mean for regional communities as well as the Western Australian
economy and WA jobs?
AnswerView source ↗
(1)–(2) That
is a great question from a great member of Parliament who has done a great
service to the people of the Pilbara. I know that he has been strongly endorsed
by the community.
I
would like to let the member know about the Denham hydrogen project on which
work started a couple of weeks ago. This $5.7 million investment will comprise
a 704 kilowatt solar farm, a 384 kW electrolyser and a 100 kW fuel cell. It is
the first hydrogen-powered microgrid in the world and will allow us to learn
how to implement hydrogen projects in remote communities across Western Australia.
It will build on the learnings from the Onslow microgrid project and allow us
to have the technology to roll out carbon-free energy to remote parts of Western
Australia. This is an opportunity for Western Australian industry to be at the
leading edge of the understanding of these new technologies. This is another
reason that people from all around the world are coming to Western Australia to
see the work that we are doing in renewable energy that keeps us at the leading edge of new technologies. The project
builds on the work that we are doing on standalone power systems, with $218 million committed over the next five years
for 1 000 standalone power systems to be manufactured here in Western Australia.
That project will be managed under the Western Australian Jobs Act. It will
provide baseline demand for manufacturing businesses in Western Australia and
allow them to export this important technology
globally. These systems will provide reliable energy to people who would not
otherwise have access to that type of reliability. This is an exciting
opportunity to continue to build jobs here in Western Australia.
Of
course, I have mentioned previously the creation of the Boundary Power project,
which is a joint venture between Horizon Power and Ampcontrol, that will see
the continued manufacturing of standalone power systems for Horizon Power and
other energy providers here in Western Australia. The Boundary Power project is an important part of Horizon Power's
ambition for zero new diesel power in remote Western Australia from 2025. Horizon Power is also planning for its
generation 3 standalone power systems that will take advantage of hydrogen rather than diesel as the support for
renewable energy and battery systems. This puts Western Australia at the leading edge in the application of hydrogen
into electrical systems. The great work being done by Minister Alannah MacTiernan under the Western Australian hydrogen strategy puts us at the
global edge of the supply of hydrogen at the giga-scale, but members can see
that we are also fitting elsewhere into the hydrogen value chain, giving us the
opportunity to create jobs here in Western Australia, to reduce carbon
emissions and to keep creating manufacturing jobs for Western Australians here
in Western Australia.
The SPEAKER : The Leader of
the Liberal Party with the last question.
is a great question from a great member of Parliament who has done a great
service to the people of the Pilbara. I know that he has been strongly endorsed
by the community.
I
would like to let the member know about the Denham hydrogen project on which
work started a couple of weeks ago. This $5.7 million investment will comprise
a 704 kilowatt solar farm, a 384 kW electrolyser and a 100 kW fuel cell. It is
the first hydrogen-powered microgrid in the world and will allow us to learn
how to implement hydrogen projects in remote communities across Western Australia.
It will build on the learnings from the Onslow microgrid project and allow us
to have the technology to roll out carbon-free energy to remote parts of Western
Australia. This is an opportunity for Western Australian industry to be at the
leading edge of the understanding of these new technologies. This is another
reason that people from all around the world are coming to Western Australia to
see the work that we are doing in renewable energy that keeps us at the leading edge of new technologies. The project
builds on the work that we are doing on standalone power systems, with $218 million committed over the next five years
for 1 000 standalone power systems to be manufactured here in Western Australia.
That project will be managed under the Western Australian Jobs Act. It will
provide baseline demand for manufacturing businesses in Western Australia and
allow them to export this important technology
globally. These systems will provide reliable energy to people who would not
otherwise have access to that type of reliability. This is an exciting
opportunity to continue to build jobs here in Western Australia.
Of
course, I have mentioned previously the creation of the Boundary Power project,
which is a joint venture between Horizon Power and Ampcontrol, that will see
the continued manufacturing of standalone power systems for Horizon Power and
other energy providers here in Western Australia. The Boundary Power project is an important part of Horizon Power's
ambition for zero new diesel power in remote Western Australia from 2025. Horizon Power is also planning for its
generation 3 standalone power systems that will take advantage of hydrogen rather than diesel as the support for
renewable energy and battery systems. This puts Western Australia at the leading edge in the application of hydrogen
into electrical systems. The great work being done by Minister Alannah MacTiernan under the Western Australian hydrogen strategy puts us at the
global edge of the supply of hydrogen at the giga-scale, but members can see
that we are also fitting elsewhere into the hydrogen value chain, giving us the
opportunity to create jobs here in Western Australia, to reduce carbon
emissions and to keep creating manufacturing jobs for Western Australians here
in Western Australia.
The SPEAKER : The Leader of
the Liberal Party with the last question.
Explore WA Government Data
Search the full archive in the free dashboard, or query programmatically via API.
Explore more
Government Gazette
Appointments, regulatory notices, planning changes.
Hansard
Debates, questions, speeches and sentiment.
Tabled Papers
Reports and documents tabled in Parliament.
Committees
Committee profiles and recent reports.
Regulations
Subsidiary legislation with filters and summaries.
Bills
Proposed laws and parliamentary progress.
Acts
Current WA legislation and summaries.
Explanatory Memoranda
Bills with EMs (text/PDF) available.
Members
MP profiles, party breakdown and rankings.
Pollie Rankings
Data-driven rankings across 19 categories.
Amendment Chains
Track how schemes and regulations evolve over time.