Mallee Hydrogen Technology Cluster

Headquartered in Mildura in the North-West of Victoria, the Mallee region is known as home to an inland port, that intersects at a strategic freight route at a tri-state region.

The Cluster was formed by the Mallee Regional Innovation Centre with representation of founding members from Mildura Regional Development, GTS Freight and Logistics Group and Regional Development Victoria.

The Mallee region is well placed to develop a hydrogen supply chain and become one of Australia’s largest producers of hydrogen due to its high solar radiation and capacity for renewable energy, which is supported by the existing infrastructure, including rail routes to port, Victoria’s second busiest regional passenger airport, and proximity to domestic demand centres.

This initiative was seeded by NERA in 2020 in order to build the capability needed to establish Australia as a world leader in the hydrogen value chain.

By leveraging the region’s considerable renewable energy capacity, a competitive hydrogen industry can be established in the Mallee.

The Mallee’s Competitive Advantage

The Mallee Regional Innovation Centre has been investigating the suitability of the region for hydrogen industry development since 2019.

The Mallee provides a number of competitive advantages in relation to hosting a hydrogen industry.

This includes:

• A rich solar resource for renewable energy and hydrogen production and seasonal storage
• Concentrated agriculture and industrial infrastructure which could benefit from heavy duty hydrogen powered transport as well as back up generation
• Strategically positioned on the national freight corridor for transport and logistic routes
• Large biomass resource which can complement hydrogen use for power generation
• Access to transport infrastructure for a hydrogen export market

Plentiful Solar Radiation

Utility-scale solar farms are being rolled out throughout the north west of Victoria. Planned grid augmentation will help unlock our abundant natural resources well into the future.

A Growing Utility Scale Solar Farm Industry

Currently the Mallee supports 19 large-scale solar projects that are either operating, being built or with planning permission approved.

These Solar Farms provide a combined energy capacity of 2380MW and are valued at over $2.8 billion.

A further 13 prospective solar farm developments have an estimated regional energy capacity of 2,050 MW. Combined, they have an estimated total energy capacity of 5,280MW.

Pre-existing Infrastructure allowing export of Hydrogen from the region

From Mildura there is a standard gauge freight rail connection to the ports of Melbourne, Geelong and Portland and a pre-existing natural gas pipeline to Adelaide. If peak demand electricity was to be supplied via stored hydrogen, then the Mallee is connected into the National Electricity Market through two 220kV transmission lines to Ballarat and Melbourne and interconnectors to NSW and SA.

The region has been advocating for upgrades to both the electricity distribution network and freight rail network with recent commitments from the Commonwealth and State Governments for the KerangLink electricity interconnector and both governments have committed to make improvements to the Murray Basin Freight Rail network.

Solar Electricity Prices to Continue Falling

The highest input cost in the production of green hydrogen is the renewable energy required to drive electrolysis.

The CSIRO is predicting that by the time the hydrogen economy matures (2030 – 2050), large scale solar electricity production will have become cheaper than wind generated electricity, making the Mallee the most economical producer of green hydrogen in Victoria.

Plentiful Sources of Biomass

The strong horticultural sector within the Mallee region provides a range of biomass products suitable as feedstock for conversion into green, high value energy products.

This includes the production of renewable, drop in fuels (diesel) and gases (including hydrogen) to transition the transport sector to hydrogen.

This also allows the agricultural sector to immediately benefit from low carbon, renewable fuel to power trucks, trains, farm machinery, hydrogen fuel cell forklifts and stationary energy on its way to hydrogen future as production increases and machinery options emerge.

Cheap Land and Room for Everyone

In comparison to other parts of Victoria that are more densely populated, there is greater acceptance of the role played by new industry developments in creating jobs and wealth for the region. This is evidenced by the lower rate of planning permit objections that have been received for the solar farm developments in the Mallee compared to other parts of the state.

View the Hydrogen in the Victoria Mallee prospectus here (PDF)