ARENA awards USD 39m to H2, low-emissions steel research projects

The Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) has awarded AUD 59.1 million (USD 39.1m/EUR 36m) to 21 projects aimed at advancing research and development (R&D) and commercialisation activities in renewable hydrogen and low-emissions iron and steel.

Recipients of the funds are research teams from Australian universities, research organisations, start-ups and companies, with individual grants ranging from AUD 1.3 million to AUD 5 million.

Do you know we have a daily hydrogen newsletter? Subscribe here for free!

The investment comes under two AUD-25-million funding rounds -- Renewable Hydrogen and Iron & Steel. ARENA said it has increased the total funding due to the quality of the applications. The Iron & Steel round awarded AUD 24.6 million to projects worth a total of AUD 102.7 million, while the Hydrogen R&D funding round awarded AUD 34.2 million, with project costs totalling AUD 99.6 million.

“We’re backing Australian technological innovation that helps build our clean industries and underpins our ambitions of becoming a renewable energy superpower,” said ARENA CEO Darren Miller.

“Through our strategic priorities, we have highlighted the importance of renewable hydrogen and low emissions metals growing to become a significant export industry,” Miller added.

ARENA noted that Australia is the world’s largest exporter of iron ore, accounting for up to 53% of annual international exports. The decarbonisation efforts within the iron and steel value chain are expected to have a substantial effect on global emissions reduction. In addition, renewable hydrogen is poised to play a significant role in mitigating emissions in hard-to-abate sectors like iron and steel production.

The list of projects can be seen in ARENA's announcement.

(AUD 1 = USD 0.662/EUR 0.609)