The Palaszczuk Government has taken another important step towards establishing Queensland’s credentials as a leading generator of renewable energy jobs.
Partnering with the Smart Energy Council’s zero-carbon certification scheme will bring further investor confidence to the state as part of the COVID-19 Economic Recovery Plan, energy, renewables and hydrogen minister Mick de Brenni says at the Queensland Smart Energy Summit.
“The production of hydrogen as a fuel gives us potential to power transport and export energy to the world, but to truly decarbonise, Queensland hydrogen has to be made from Queensland sunshine and wind.
“As a founding partner of the Smart Energy Council’s Zero Carbon Certification Scheme, buyers of Queensland’s hydrogen can choose a product made by electrolysers powered only from renewable energy,” de brenni says.
“This certification program is another important signal that we are ready to develop a renewable hydrogen sector to power our mining fleet, our transport sector, freight networks and create new export markets while reducing emissions.”
Smart Energy Council chief executive John Grimes says the Zero Carbon Certification Scheme is a positive step in building new industries of the future.
“The Zero Carbon Certification Scheme is a certificate of origin scheme for renewable hydrogen, renewable ammonia and renewable metals,” he says.
“It will assess the embedded carbon content of the products to ensure that renewable production is maintained and becomes the primary form of production.”
De Brenni says Queensland is well positioned to be a global leader in renewable hydrogen.
“Already, Queensland is home to more than 3200 megawatts of large-scale, renewable energy projects, as well as the highest uptake of rooftop solar in the world, generating more than 3500 megawatts of energy.
“We are well on our way to reach our 50% renewable target by 2030, and the production of renewable hydrogen is a logical next step.”
The certification follows the Palaszczuk Government’s $2 billion commitment to support renewable energy and hydrogen jobs as part of the COVID-19 Economic Recovery Plan.
Visit smartenergy.org.au for more information.
