HLTCRC maps out heavy industry net zero transition

The Heavy Industry Low-Carbon Transition Co-operative Research Centre (HILT CRC) has launched a flagship three-year project on energy infrastructure to help guide heavy industry decarbonisation.

The project will provide clear, data-driven estimates of energy costs to inform government policy and enable heavy industry to plan its decarbonisation pathway.

‘Unlocking investment in energy infrastructure for net-zero industrial hubs’ aims to identify optimal and economically efficient energy supply options – including hydrogen, electricity and natural gas – for the industrial hubs that will be needed for Australia to achieve net-zero carbon emissions.

Led by CSIRO Senior Research Scientist Dr Tara Hosseini, the project will:

• Consider different regionally specific scenarios for transitioning energy supply and heavy industry demand
• And develop cost-optimised evaluations of the energy infrastructure needed to reach net-zero carbon emissions by 2050.

The new project builds on work that focused on hydrogen alone, and which earned Dr Hosseini the 2024 HILT CRC Award for Best Contribution to De-risking and Accelerating Decarbonisation.

Twelve HILT CRC partners are involved in the project: industry participants Grange Resources, Fortescue, South32, Liberty Steel, BlueScope, Energy Exemplar and the Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO), and research participants CSIRO, Curtin University, Swinburne University of Technology, The Australian National University and the University of Adelaide.

AEMO has recently joined HILT CRC as an Associate Partner.

HILT CRC brings together more than 60 industry, research and government organisations to perform collaborative research dedicated to developing and demonstrating low-carbon technologies that will help the steel, iron, alumina and cement industries decarbonise heavy industry, create jobs and grow the economy.

Picture: HILT CRC/HILT CRC’s new project on heavy industry energy infrastructure needs will inform the pathway to net-zero carbon emissions