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CEFC to Manage Australia's Hydrogen Industry with New $300M Investment Funds
The Australian federal government sets up funds worth $300M for supporting the emerging Hydrogen projects

By
Apac CIOOutlook | Thursday, May 07, 2020
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The Australian federal government sets up funds worth $300M for supporting the emerging Hydrogen projects
Fremont, CA: The federal government has set up a new $300 million fund for investments in Australia’s upcoming hydrogen industry. This move is expected to kick start jobs and significant exports from the sector.
The $300 million funds will finance, through direct investments and loans, those projects seeking to grow Australia’s renewable hydrogen sector, including the development of newer domestic supply chains, export infrastructure, and investing in projects that nurture the growth of local demand for hydrogen.
Yet to be named as the Advancing Hydrogen Fund, the finances from the fund will be administered by the Clean Energy Finance Corporation (CEFC). The division will be issued a new investment mandate to direct the funds mainly towards projects related to clean hydrogen.
“This new fund will be a catalyst for the future growth of Australia’s hydrogen industry, which has the potential to boost Australia’s energy security while creating more new jobs across the country and becoming a major new export industry,” finance minister Mathias Cormann said.
“There are many innovative Australian organizations working to advance the hydrogen industry, and this fund will support that work. Our government is very committed to backing technological advances in the hydrogen industry.”
The investment followed the recent launch of a $70 million grant funding round conducted for the development of hydrogen technologies to be handled by the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA), with a focus to mainly support the deployment of large-scale electrolyzers which produce hydrogen using renewable electricity.
The new $300 million investment fund is allotted for the provision of financial support projects that are also receiving the ARENA funds.
The CEFC aims to provide either debt or equity finance to larger-scale projects, generally in need of a minimum $10 million is finance, combined with extra private equity or sector funding.
“The Australian Government has a strong commitment to building a hydrogen industry which will create jobs, many in regional areas, and billions of dollars in economic growth between now and 2050,” federal energy minister Angus Taylor said.
“Our hydrogen industry has the ability to make a tremendous positive impact both at home and overseas. From cheaper energy bills and job creation in regional Australia, to play a role in reducing global emissions both at home and in countries that buy Australian produced hydrogen, the industry’s potential cannot be ignored.”
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