Sparc Hydrogen launches first-of-its-kind hydrogen plant in Adelaide
Amid setbacks in the broader Australian hydrogen energy sector, an Adelaide-based company has today commissioned a pilot plant that doesn’t rely on electrolysers.
Sparc Hydrogen today commissioned a pilot hydrogen reactor at the University of Adelaide’s Roseworthy Campus in collaboration with Fortescue.
The Sparc Hydrogen Advanced Research Pilot (SHARP) turns research conducted by Professor Greg Metha into a reality, and is a test bed for photocatalytic water splitting (PWC).
The PWC process harnesses solar energy to extract hydrogen from water, without the need for electrolysers powered by electricity.
At the Roseworthy Campus, the joint venture will assess the potential of PWS reactor technology following years of university research and months of work undertaken by partners Sparc Technologies, the University of Adelaide and metals company Fortescue.
The SHARP pilot aims to improve the economics of producing green hydrogen using PWS, which remains a challenge to reaching commercialisation of the technology.
Sparc said the facility would come online next month, and was “to schedule and on budget”.
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The launch of the pilot comes amid setbacks more broadly for green hydrogen production projects, including in South Australia.
The state government abandoned plans to build a $600 million hydrogen hub at Whyalla by 2026. That project would have included the world’s largest electrolyser.
After diverting funding for that project to rescuing the Whyalla steelworks, the government announced it would sell four state-of-the-art turbines acquired for the hydrogen hub.
Energy and mining minister Tom Koutsantonis confirmed in Parliament in February that the turbines would be on-sold “for the original purchase price or higher, with the guarantee they will be installed in South Australia to provide additional generation capacity”.
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Further, as revealed by InDaily in March, nearly half of all planned SA hydrogen projects were “archived” as the economic realities of staging these projects came home to roost.
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Fortescue was previously bullish on its green hydrogen projects, but last year put its ambitious green energy goal of producing 15 million tonnes of renewable hydrogen annually by 2030 on hold, noting the high cost of production.
The managing director of ASX-listed Sparc Technologies, Nick O’Loughlin, said “the requirement for new solutions to unlock low-cost green hydrogen without relying on electrolysers has never been higher”.
“The SHARP plant represents a first-of-its-kind demonstration and R&D facility globally for photocatalytic water splitting and is a key step towards commercialisation of the technology,” O’Loughlin said.
Sparc Hydrogen lead researcher and inventor Professor Greg Metha said the pilot plant would “allow us to independently and concurrently test different reactor designs and photocatalyst materials”.
“This next-generation photocatalytic water splitting technology has major advantages over electrolysis as it offers the potential to produce low cost, scalable green hydrogen and heat without significant electricity use,” he said.
$10 million Green Metals Innovation Network
Sparc’s development comes as the Adelaide-based Heavy Industry Low-carbon Transition Cooperative Research Centre (HILT CRC) announced it has formed a new Green Metals Innovation Network (GMIN) in partnership with the CSIRO.
Backed by $10 million of Australian Government funding, the GMIN will bring together research, government and industry to accelerate the development of a domestic green metals industry for Australia’s iron, steel, alumina and aluminium sectors.
HILT CRC CEO Jenny Selway said the organisation’s role in co-managing GMIN complements its core expertise.
“By strengthening collaboration between industry and research, GMIN will help fast-track innovation and technology to address gaps in the low-cost production of green metals,” Selway said.
CSIRO will drive industry and research collaboration, enhance green metals expertise and identify education pathways to support a future green metals industry.
“The challenge is immense, but equally there is opportunity here for Australia to be an innovator and to create a future where sustainable energy and mineral resources expand our prosperity,” CSIRO chief executive Dr Doug Hilton said.
