Hyundai Australia has secured a supply of green hydrogen from gas utility Jemena as part of a new deal that signals a significant step forward for Australia’s emerging zero emission vehicle industry.

Jemena has committed, through a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Hyundai and Australian-owned industrial gas company Coregas, to produce and deliver hydrogen, generated from solar and wind power, to Hyundai’s Macquarie Park headquarters from early 2021, to be made available to the vehicle industry.

Coregas will provide the compressor, pipework and connectors for filling and discharging hydrogen.

“A lack of critical refuelling infrastructure is regularly cited as a hand-brake to hydrogen vehicle sales,” Jemena’s Managing Director Frank Tudor said.

“Our agreement with Hyundai and Coregas releases some of that pressure and is an opportunity to demonstrate that renewably generated hydrogen gas can be made directly available to the vehicle and transport sectors.”

Tudor said hydrogen gas for transport will be generated as part of Jemena’s $15m Western Sydney Green Gas project, which is being co-funded on a 50% basis by ARENA.

In addition to supporting the hydrogen vehicle industry, the project will also produce hydrogen from solar and wind power and test how hydrogen gas can be stored and used across Jemena’s New South Wales gas network.

“We are demonstrating that electrolysers not only produce safe and green hydrogen gas to blend with natural gas for home appliances, but that they also enable hydrogen to be made available for zero-emission transportation,” Tudor said.

The MoU follows formal certification from the Australian Government for Hyundai’s hydrogen-powered FCEV, the Nexo.

While the Nexo has received all official clearances required for use on Australian roads, it is currently only available to governments or fleets with access to a hydrogen station.

At the moment, there is only one permanent hydrogen station, at Hyundai’s Macquarie Park headquarters in Sydney.

A new station is under construction in the ACT, with others planned for Melbourne and Brisbane.

The largest hydrogen vehicle fleet in Australia is the 20 Hyundai Nexo SUVs, soon to be deployed by the ACT Government.