Green shoots in clean hydrogen as startup notches win
An Australian startup promising to transform the green hydrogen economy has celebrated its fifth birthday with its first export customer.
While details of the commercial deal are still confidential, Port Kembla-based Hysata expects to deliver its first large-scale electrolyser in the first half of 2027.
Electrolyzers, an important kit for green hydrogen production, are responsible for separating hydrogen and oxygen from water using electricity produced from clean sources.
In turn, the technology facilitates a sustainable way to decarbonize sectors of the economy that cannot easily run on battery power or direct electricity.
Developed by Hysata’s University of Wollongong, the product promises a 20 per cent efficiency increase over existing electrolysers, helping to improve the challenging economics of green hydrogen compared to fossil fuel-derived alternatives.
Renewable hydrogen investment, which made a succession of headlines in the early 2020s, has since taken a bit of a backseat, with many major developments in Australia canceled.
“It’s probably fair to say that the green hydrogen industry is experiencing a dot-com moment,” Hysata CEO Paul Barrett told AAP.
It was a time of cheap capital and cycles of hype; most of the announcements were made without discount agreements; that is, customers agree to purchase the product in advance.
The future of hydrogen cars and transportation is greatly diminished by the superior economics of electrification.
This has left smaller, less flashy heavy industrial applications, including ammonia and steel, that are difficult to decarbonise.
“They don’t make a lot of headlines, but they are great industries to build around,” Mr. Barrett said.
The startup’s modular electrolyzers are largely targeted at industry users looking to produce green hydrogen on-site to decarbonize their operations.
The first commercial agreement will be with a customer with secure hydrogen uptake in a sector that is difficult to abate.
It follows successful international demonstration projects, including a field trial in Saudi Arabia with global services giant Acwa.
Since arriving in 2021, Hysata has managed to complete its production facility at the center of steelmaking in the Illawarra, NSW.
Apart from this, the business focused on testing its product in real-world conditions, attracting investment and building a local and global customer network, including the Middle East, Europe and South America.
Other signs of green shoots in Australia’s burgeoning renewable hydrogen industry include the green light for mining company Orica’s Hunter Valley Hydrogen Centre.
This project, one of the largest in the country, reached its final investment decision after receiving funding from ARENA.
The clean fuel will be used instead of gas to produce ammonia at the company’s facility on Kooragang Island.
Mr Barrett said Australia remained a promising destination for making value-added export products using renewable hydrogen and electricity.
“We are a big continent, we have a lot of non-arable land in the center of the country, we have great renewable resources,” he said.
“There is an exciting future for Australia.”
