Accelerating the energy transition

Title Story

By Ulrike Andresen-Nikolai, German-Australian Chamber of Industry & Commerce

Next to COVID, one topic continues to dominate headlines globally: Energy. With Germany and Australia being at the forefront of exciting technological developments, we dedicate the first Accelerate issue of 2021 to the Energy Transition.

The time for even closer collaboration in the energy sector between Australia and Germany has never been better. Investments and innovations abound – implementation, scalability, competitiveness, and commercialisation are the challenges that await.

In Australia, renewables have set a record, with their share exceeding 30% in the National Electricity Market (NEM) for the first time. Just as a comparison, in Germany the share of renewables has been around 44% for 2020. At the beginning of February 2021, the National Energy Resources Australia (NERA) has announced it will invest $1.85M in 13 hydrogen technology clusters Australiawide. This investment will help set up the country as a serious competitor in the global hydrogen fuel industry.

RENEWABLE PROJECTS IN AUSTRALIA ADDED UP TO MORE THAN:

14,600 direct jobs

$20.49 billion investment

11.1 GW new generation capacity

in 2017-2020

While COVID-19 has made predictions for a future market share difficult, to say the least, a report produced for the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) calculated that global demand for hydrogen exported from Australia could be over three million tonnes each year by 2040. This demand could be worth up to $10 billion each year to the economy by that time. According to the Clean Energy 2020 report, renewable projects set for construction from 2017 to March 2020 added up to more than 14,600 direct jobs, $20.49 billion in investment and 11,149MW of new generation capacity.

In this Accelerate issue, member companies who work in or support the energy transition share the latest developments. As a bilateral organisation, we count ourselves lucky to have this amount of expertise in our membership base. In addition to these valuable member contributions – both to the magazine and the energy sector – AHK Australien is part of many other relevant activities.

In December 2020, we held a webinar, delivered jointly by the Energy Efficiency Council, the German-Australian Chamber of Industry and Commerce and adelphi. Together, we explored the significant opportunities for Australia and Germany to work together to harness the power of energy efficiency to kick-start economic activity, strengthen trade links, improve health and wellbeing, and cut carbon emissions.

You can find a recording of the Energy efficiency webinar here.

Recycling and waste management was another important topic discussed during a webinar, presenting current market developments and opportunities in Australia.

This webinar can be accessed here.

In an exclusive webinar in November, we welcomed Angus Taylor MP, Minister for Energy and Emissions Reduction, and H.E. Dr Thomas Fitschen, German Ambassador to Australia. Minister Taylor reaffirmed that Australia would cooperate closely with Germany in the future, citing the joint feasibility study. He also explained the government’s ambitious “H2 under $2” goal to reduce the production cost of hydrogen to under $2 per kilogram. Achieving this goal will require technical collaboration with international partners such as Germany, according to Minister Taylor. “[Hydrogen] is a consistent theme in our work, and we see it as enormously important,” he added.

New Energy Technologies

In response to the Australian and German governments’ fast-tracking of their hydrogen strategies, AHK Australien founded a bilateral Hydrogen Alliance in November 2020.

Joining forces, Australia and Germany can become major players in the global hydrogen industry. The newly formed German-Australian Hydrogen Alliance provides a platform for exchange and matchmaking between Australian and German stakeholders.

“We currently see strong political support, strong research links and, most importantly, strong business interest between these two like-minded partners. Ongoing close coordination of all sides is essential if we want to use the full potential of hydrogen developments,” says Christoph von Spesshardt, Executive Director of AHK Australien.

In this magazine, read about many hydrogen initiatives that our members are already working on. There are metallic components of fuel cells and electrolysers (Schaeffler), buses running on hydrogen (University of Queensland) and gas filtration devices, which can satisfy the high demands of Hydrogen refuelling (HYDAC).

“Three factors are working in our favour: strong political support, productive research links, and a commitment to business collaboration between Germany & Australia”

Christoph von Spesshardt, Executive Director of AHK Australien

Hydrogen, however, is by no means the only source of renewable energy for the future. Read on to find out about exciting solar projects (SMA Australia), battery storage (BASF & State Government Victoria), products that help increase energy efficiency in buildings (Knauf Insulation), waste management (entec) and even how AI is used to enable the future of renewable energy (Unleash live).

We see a great amount of innovation paired with a willingness to collaborate.

The future of renewable energy is looking very promising indeed.