Case Study

Exploring renewable hydrogen capabilities in Queensland, Australia

Aerial view of Gladstone town and port.

We delivered a renewable hydrogen industry study to the Queensland State Government.

Queensland has the potential to be a significant producer of renewable hydrogen. But for this to become a reality, strategic planning and assessment were required to visualize how the industry could be developed at scale.

Queensland has everything needed for a successful renewable hydrogen industry – abundant renewable resource potential, available land and water, and world-class port infrastructure.

Craig Henderson, Project Lead and Managing Practice Consultant - Advisory

“As part of this project, we took the Government on the journey of systematically evaluating regions in detail using our hydrogen development bottleneck framework”.

Mapping out renewable hydrogen opportunities

We investigated Queensland’s potential to develop a large-scale renewable hydrogen industry for export and developed a complete set of detailed finding reports along with a study summary, Enabling Queensland’s hydrogen production, and export opportunities.

The reports provided an understanding of Queensland’s hydrogen export capacity and the capabilities of different regions to support a new hydrogen industry. There was also a roadmap to enable a new industry to flourish and grow quickly.

The reports generated and validated important regional information such as water and land availability, transmission capacity, and renewable energy potential. Although primarily developed for the Queensland Government, broader stakeholders, namely hydrogen plant developers and investors, can leverage the reports’ findings to start developing renewable hydrogen projects in Queensland.

Global expertise, local delivery

Our team’s expertise covered all techno-commercial and sustainability aspects of developing an integrated energy system.

“We leveraged our experience in global hydrogen project development and contextualized it to Queensland,” says Stella Elkington, Project Manager. “We considered all areas of the value chain including renewable energy generation and transmission, carrier production and transport, ports, and marine infrastruture. We also made sure appropriate safety, social and environmental considerations were addressed.”

Queensland – the place to be for renewable hydrogen

Our study and supporting reports give the Queensland Government a foundation to start progressing its hydrogen industry. They will also help deliver the actions outlined in the Queensland Energy and Jobs Plan, with a commitment of up to AU$15 million to supercharge, coordinate, and further plan for hydrogen hubs in key locations across the state.

“This is a key step in developing Queensland’s energy future. The study showcased what can be done and allowed the industry to come together to plan for the next stages of hydrogen project development,” says Henderson.

Read the study summary