Conveyer at a coal mine
Australian coal-to-hydrogen pilot targets Japanese market
Plan to ship product with world’s first purpose-built liquefied hydrogen carrier
In Victoria’s Latrobe Valley, the heart of Australia’s brown coal mining industry, the backers of the $500mn Hydrogen Energy Supply Chain (HESC) pilot plant aim to show there is a viable carbon-neutral future for the fossil fuel. The plant, which started up in mid-March, gasifies brown coal (lignite) to make hydrogen, which is transported to Victoria’s Hastings port for liquefaction at Australia's first hydrogen liquefaction facility before shipment to Japan. Carbon dioxide (CO2) generated during hydrogen production will be captured, condensed transported and stored in porous sandstone 1.5km beneath the Bass Strait as part of Australia’s CarbonNet project. Latrobe Valley has 65bn t of ligni
Also in this section
26 June 2025
Last year was one of records for renewables but also for oil, gas and coal, as the energy transition progresses in an increasingly uneven way, according to the Energy Institute’s latest annual report
25 June 2025
One of the sector’s harshest critics calls for a change of course, but the industry insists it is on an upward trajectory
25 June 2025
Lithuanian port is first in Baltic region to install electrolyser to supply green hydrogen to maritime and road transport users
23 June 2025
Funding deals for two major projects lift the mood in a sector hampered by local bureaucratic delays and bearish global sentiment
