According to the ACIL Allen report the projected high demand of importing hydrogen to Japan and Korea is 5,420,000 tons of H2 by 2030 [1]. If Australia is to supply 50 % of these imports, this equates to 2,710,000 tons of hydrogen. For green hydrogen (produced from renewables), electrolysis requires 50 kWh of electrical energy to produce 1 kg of hydrogen, therefore to produce 2,710,000 tons of hydrogen in one year requires 135.5 TWh of electrical energy, which is 15.47 GW of electrical power for one year.
In 2018 Australia’s total electricity generation was 29.8 GW and renewables accounted for 5.63 GW (Hydro, wind and solar) [2]. To provide 15.47 GW in 2030 to solely produce hydrogen and assuming a doubling of renewable capacity for other purposes (11.26 GW), Australia’s renewable capacity in 2030 would need to be 26.73 GW. This implies that Australia requires an additional 21.1 GW of renewable power systems built by 2030 (in 12 years). Much of this renewable infrastructure would be required to be built in the same locality (most likely solar and wind in the Pilbara, WA), so that the hydrogen produced could then be shipped to Japan and Korea. Before transporting to Japan and Korea, the hydrogen gas produced from electrolysis would need to be transformed into a form to enable it to be shipped, such as liquid NH3, liquid hydrogen (LH2) or a liquid organic hydrogen carrier (LOHC). Before transporting the hydrogen to Japan and Korea the energy required to transform the gaseous hydrogen to liquid NH3, LH2 or a LOHC needs to be determined.
Is there a better way to transport hydrogen to the above destinations? Another method to transport the hydrogen is to use a solid state hydrogen carrier such as a metal hydride. In this scenario the hydrogen is chemically bonded to an alloy (complex hydride) which is shipped in a powder form or slurry. At the destination a solution is added to the complex hydride and hydrogen is released. Through this reaction hydrogen is not only released from the complex hydride, but also from the solution. The by-product is then shipped back to Australia for reprocessing (using renewable energy) to once again form the hydrogen containing complex hydride. It is envisaged that the energy required to produce the hydrogen containing complex hydride (containing 2,710,000 tons of hydrogen) using renewable energy may be lower than the energy required to produce 2,710,000 tons of renewable hydrogen using electrolysis plus the energy required to transform the gaseous hydrogen to the form of liquid NH3, LH2 or a LOHC for transport to Japan and Korea.
A full techno-economic analysis must be carried out to ascertain the most cost effective way (NH3, LH2, LOHC or complex hydride) to ship 2,710,000 tons of hydrogen to Japan and Korea in the year 2030.
[1] Opportunities for Australia from Hydrogen Exports, ACIL Allen Consulting for ARENA, 2018.
[2] https://www.energy.gov.au/publications/australian-energy-statistics-table-o-electricity-generation-fuel-type-2017-18-and-2018