Ms Warlick said there was also an imbalance in production demand and work finding offtake agreements needed for long-term investment stability and infrastructure were progressing slowly. “We must take decisive action,” she said.
“Government needs to implement support schemes for hydrogen production and use. They must transition from announcements to implementation.”
Japan has pledged to spend $US100 billion ($154 billion) on hydrogen in the next 15 years to boost supply. Australia is a key market for Japanese investment in renewables, but it is also looking to source hydrogen from the United States, the Middle East, India, South America and elsewhere.
Japan and South Korea are reportedly planning to build a joint supply chain for hydrogen and ammonia.
Australian state governments are also competing to be the top destination for Japanese capital.
Michael Newman, the New South Wales government’s senior trade and investment commissioner for North Asia, said supply chain resilience and the bankability of projects were hurdles.
“Given rising inflation, rising interest rates, geopolitical turmoil, we have a lot of issues,” he told the conference.
Mr Newman said NSW had the potential for large-scale hydrogen production because a lot of the existing infrastructure needed for hydrogen projects, including the energy grid and port capacity, had already been built.
Paul Martyn, who heads Queensland’s Department of Energy and Public Works, said his state government was looking at collaboration with Tokyo on key hydrogen projects. The state currently has 50 announced hydrogen projects, with a third involving Japanese companies.
He said Queensland was investing in the infrastructure needed for hydrogen projects more than any other state, including 2000 kilometres of high voltage transmission.
Mitsubishi Heavy Industries president Seiji Izumizawa said the company was talking to the states in Australia about new green energy investments. “In that sense, we are looking forward to being a partner,” he said in a response to a question from The Australian Financial Review.
However, he said there were many uncertainties around green hydrogen, and it was still unclear how it would be used in the steel industry in Australia.
“We are conducting studies from various angles, such as how to design a system that includes fuel, transport, and even policy support. In that sense, I am interested in all areas,” he said.
In Australia, infrastructure giants such as Canada’s OMERS Infrastructure this week said it was struggling to close investments in renewable energy projects because of rising interest rates, higher inflation, supply chain disruptions as well as scarce and expensive labour.
Other green energy sources, including offshore wind, are under pressure globally from soaring costs and inflation.
With Noriko Honda