ATCO tech to be exported to California

ATCO
ATCO's Clean Energy Innovation Hub. The hydrolyser is on the left, the white tank in the background is the hydrogen tank, and the blue spherical container is where hydrogen will be blended with natural gas as ATCO tests the process.

Australia is proving its leadership position in the technical development and production of green hydrogen with the announcement that ATCO’s Australian-designed and engineered Clean Energy Innovation Hub (CEIH) technology is set to be exported to California following an agreement between ATCO and Southern California Gas Co. (SoCalGas).

Testing different combinations of energy blends and integrating natural gas, solar, battery storage and hydrogen, the CEIH was established in 2019 to examine the role hydrogen might play in a low-carbon- energy future, and as a balancing fuel to support the electricity grid in Western Australia and beyond.

ATCO

ATCO will provide technical and engineering consulting to SoCalGas to support construction and commissioning of a demonstration project based on the Australian-designed hydrogen production, blending and testing facility Australian-designed hydrogen production, blending and testing facility at a SoCalGas facility in Southern California.

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ATCO’s managing director in Australia Patrick Creaghan said the agreement was a first step in sharing the Australian-based expertise with the world.

“Australia, and Western Australia in particular, is leading the charge globally in terms of renewables, and the generation and use of green hydrogen,” he said.

“We’re proud to be enabling the team at SoCalGas to demonstrate the role hydrogen could play in the path to carbon neutrality across the United States, with technology that was developed right here in Perth, Western Australia.”

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Named the H2 Hydrogen Home, the project will be the first of its kind in the US and will create a microgrid that includes a home, solar arrays, a home battery, and an electrolyzer to convert solar energy into clean hydrogen. It will also include a fuel cell to convert the hydrogen back to electricity and blend hydrogen into the natural gas pipeline.

The H2 Hydrogen Home is expected to be complete by late 2021.

ATCO is also currently leveraging the learnings from the Clean Energy Innovation Hub as it finalises a feasibility/FEED study into a commercial scale hydrogen production plant. This project has been shortlisted by the Australian Renewable Energy Agency’s upcoming $70m Renewable Hydrogen Deployment Funding Round.

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