Swinburne, CSIRO launch new hydrogen refuelling station at Clayton

CSIRO and Swinburne University of Technology’s Victorian Hydrogen Hub (VH2) have launched a $2.5 million, purpose-built clean hydrogen refuelling station.

The station is located at the national science agency’s Clayton, Victoria site, and will be used in research on hydrogen in transport applications as well as for training.

The installation is funded by VH2 and the Victorian Government’s Higher Education State Investment Fund.

A report from VH2 researchers published earlier this year — Skilling the green hydrogen economy: A case study from Australia — found “widespread perceptions of training and skilling as being very important to the industry, but under-provisioned” and that “urgent cross-sector attention needs to be paid to hydrogen industry training and skill development”.

According to a statement from Swinburne on Thursday, the new charger is able to generate up to 20 kilograms per day of green hydrogen through electrolysis, and has a storage capacity of 80 kilograms, sufficient “for more than 10 cars.”

The university’s Deputy Vice-Chancellor Research, Professor Karen Hapgood, said, “Hydrogen plays a key part in our transition to clean energy, and demonstration projects such as these help to test technical, regulatory and economic aspects of hydrogen refuelling infrastructure, and support the urgent training and workforce development for this expanding hydrogen energy ecosystem.” 

Dr Doug Hilton, Chief Executive at CSIRO, added, “This is innovative, inventive, inspired technology that builds the sovereign capabilities Australia needs to transition to net zero.”

The station is described in the release as “a significant component of CSIRO’s Hydrogen Industry Mission,” which aims to support decarbonisation through research and the development of a commercially viable Australian hydrogen industry.

Picture: credit CSIRO

Further reading

Research highlights need for hydrogen sector skills

Upskilling for hydrogen shift “a pressing issue facing the nation” says new report