Australian Renewable Energy Agency takes lead role in HyGATE

In Australia, Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) has announced that it will play a key role in the development and delivery of the German-Australian Hydrogen Innovation and Technology Incubator known as HyGATE.

ARENA will team up with Germany’s Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF), to administer HyGATE which will support real-world pilot, trial, demonstration and research projects along the hydrogen supply chain.

In June this year, the Prime Minister and Minister for Industry, Energy and Emissions Reduction announced that Australia and Germany will invest in a series of new initiatives to accelerate the development of a hydrogen industry, creating new economic opportunities and jobs while reducing emissions.

The Australia-Germany Hydrogen Accord, executed by the two countries, builds on respective strengths, with Australia looking to be a major hydrogen exporter and Germany holding expertise in hydrogen technology and planning to import significant quantities of hydrogen in the future.

ARENA’s focus will be on the first initiative of the Accord, which is to establish HyGATE with BMBF. ARENA and BMBF aim to open the funding initiative in the first quarter of 2022. On the German side, Project Management Jülich (PtJ) will implement HyGATE on behalf of BMBF.

Australia and Germany have committed up to AU$50 million and €50 million, respectively, to invest in new renewable hydrogen projects. The objective of HyGATE is to strengthen the Australian-German cooperation regarding the implementation of a value chain for hydrogen produced from renewables and stimulate the innovation process in both countries.