An Australian startup promising to transform the economics of green hydrogen has celebrated its fifth birthday with its first export customer.
While the details of the commercial arrangement are still under wraps, Port Kembla-based Hysata expects to be delivering its first large-scale electrolyser in the first half of 2027.
A key piece of kit for producing green hydrogen, electrolysers are responsible for splitting hydrogen and oxygen from water using electricity generated from clean sources.
In turn, the technology facilitates a sustainable means of decarbonising sectors of the economy that can’t easily run on battery power or direct electrification.
Hysata’s University of Wollongong-developed product promises a 20 per cent efficiency advance on existing electrolysers, helping improve the tough economics of green hydrogen compared to fossil fuel-derived alternatives.
After generating back-to-back headlines in the early 2020s, investment in renewable hydrogen has since taken a bit of a back seat, with several major Australian developments cancelled.
“It’s probably fair to say the green hydrogen industry has had a dot-com moment,” Hysata chief executive Paul Barrett told AAP.
It was a time of cheap capital and hype cycles, with many of the announcements made without off-take agreements attached; that is, customers agreeing to buy the product in advance.
The prospects of hydrogen cars and transport were largely undercut by the superior economics of electrification.
This left behind smaller, less glamorous heavy-industry applications that are hard to decarbonise, including ammonia and steel.
“They don’t grab as many headlines but they’re great industries to build around,” Mr Barrett said.
The startup’s modular electrolysers are largely targeted at industry users intending to make green hydrogen onsite to decarbonise their operations.
The first commercial agreement will be with a customer in a hard-to-abate sector with secured hydrogen offtake.
It follows successful international demonstration projects, including a field trial in Saudi Arabia with global utility giant Acwa.
Since arriving in 2021, Hysata has managed to complete its manufacturing facility in steelmaking heartland in the NSW Illawarra.
The business has otherwise been focused on testing its product in real-world conditions, attracting investment and building a network of customers locally and globally, including in the Middle East, Europe and South America.
Other signs of green shoots in Australia’s fledgling renewable hydrogen industry include the greenlighting of mining company Orica’s Hunter Valley Hydrogen Hub.
It’s one of the largest projects in the country and reached a final investment decision after winning funding from ARENA.
The clean fuel will be used to replace gas in the company’s ammonia production at its Kooragang Island plant.
Mr Barrett said Australia remained a promising destination for making value-added export products using renewable hydrogen and electricity.
“We’re a big continent, we have a lot of non-arable land in the centre of the country, we’ve great renewable resources,” he said.
“There’s an exciting future for Australia.”
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