Image credit: Toyota

​​INVESTMENT PRIORITY: Exporting renewable energy

LEAD ORGANISATION: Toyota Motor Corporation Australia Limited

ARENA FUNDING: $3.07 million

TOTAL PROJECT COST: $7.37 million

LOCATION: Altona, VIC

A decommissioned car manufacturing plant will get a second life as part of this project’s green hydrogen transport hub in Melbourne. The Toyota Australia Hydrogen Centre aims to demonstrate that hydrogen is a viable fuel source for transport and for storing renewable energy.

Using solar PV and battery storage, more than 60 kilograms of hydrogen will be produced daily for use in Victoria’s first commercial-scale hydrogen vehicle refuelling station infrastructure to fuel passenger vehicles, heavy vehicles and forklifts, and run hydrogen forklifts through warehousing operations.

As well as being the first known project in Australia seeking to use renewable energy for hydrogen production and use on a single site, a key deliverable of the project will be the construction and operation of an education centre to promote hydrogen innovation and education.

The education centre will coordinate research activities that address technology development for the safe and cost-effective generation and use of hydrogen, and has been designed to support collaboration between government, technology developers and educators to progress the uptake of renewable hydrogen in Australia.

HOW THIS PROJECT MAKES A DIFFERENCE

This project will help to pave the way for more Australian vehicles to be powered by renewable energy by increasing hydrogen education and awareness in Australia, and demonstrating the feasibility of using multiple sources of renewable energy at a single site. The hydrogen refuelling station may also reduce the hurdles facing hydrogen infrastructure deployment.

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