This web service features Australian hydrogen projects that are actively in the investigation, construction, or operating phase, and that align with green hydrogen production methods as outlined in Australia's National Hydrogen Strategy. The purpose of this dataset is to provide a detailed snapshot of hydrogen activity across Australia, and includes location data, operator/organisation details, and descriptions for all hydrogen projects listed.

This web service depicts the locations of onshore depleted gas fields, underground gas storage facilities and known, thick underground halite deposits, all with the potential for large scale hydrogen storage.

Natural or native molecular hydrogen (H2) can be a major component in natural gas, and yet its role in the global energy sector’s usage as a clean energy carrier is not normally considered. Here, we update the scarce reporting of hydrogen in Australian natural gas with new compositional and isotopic analyses of H2 undertaken at Geoscience Australia. The dataset involves ~1000 natural gas samples from 470 wells in both sedimentary and non-sedimentary basins with reservoir rock age ranging from the Neoarchean to Cenozoic. Pathways to H2 formation can involve either organic matter intermediates and its association with biogenic natural gas or chemical synthesis and its presence in abiogenic natural gas. The latter reaction pathway generally leads to H2-rich (>10 mol% H2) gas in non-sedimentary rocks. Abiogenic H2 petroleum systems are described within concepts of source-migration-reservoir-seal but exploration approaches are different to biogenic natural gas. Rates of abiogenic H2 generation are governed by the availability of specific rock types and different mineral catalysts, and through chemical reactions and radiolysis of accessible water. Hydrogen can be differently trapped compared to hydrocarbon gases; for example, pore space can be created in fractured basement during abiogenic reactions, and clay minerals and evaporites can act as effective adsorbents, traps and seals. Underground storage of H2 within evaporites (specifically halite) and in depleted petroleum reservoirs will also have a role to play in the commercial exploitation of H2. Estimated H2 production rates from water radiolysis in mafic-ultramafic and granitic rocks and serpentinisation of ultramafic-mafic rocks gives a H2 inferred resource potential between ~1.6 to ~58 MMm3 y-1 for onshore Australia down to a depth of 1 km. The prediction and subsequent identification of subsurface H2 that can be exploited remains enigmatic and awaits robust exploration guidelines and targeted drilling for proof of concept. Appeared in The APPEA Journal 61(1) 163-191, 2 July 2021

Green steel, produced using renewable energy and hydrogen, presents a promising avenue to decarbonize steel manufacturing and expand the hydrogen industry. Australia, endowed with abundant renewable resources and iron ore deposits, is ideally placed to support this global effort. This paper's two-step analytical approach offers the first comprehensive assessment of Australia's potential to develop green steel as a value-added export commodity. The Economic Fairways modelling reveals a strong alignment between prospective hydrogen hubs and current and future iron ore operations, enabling shared infrastructure development and first-mover advantages. By employing a site-based system optimization that integrates both wind and solar power sources, the cost of producing green steel could decrease significantly to around AU$900 per tonne by 2030 and AU$750 per tonne by 2050. Moreover, replacing 1% of global steel production would require 35 GW of well-optimized wind and solar photovoltaics, 16 GW of hydrogen electrolysers, and 1000 square kilometres of land. Sensitivity analysis further indicates that iron ore prices would exert a long-term influence on green steel prices. Overall, this study highlights the opportunities and challenges facing the Australian iron ore industry in contributing to the decarbonization of the global steel sector, underscoring the crucial role of government support in driving the growth and development of the green steel industry. <b>Citation:</b> Wang C et al., Green steel: Synergies between the Australian iron ore industry and the production of green hydrogen, <i>International Journal of Hydrogen Energy,</i> Volume 48, Issue 81, 1 October 2023, Pages 32277-32293, ISSN 0360-3199. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijhydene.2023.05.041

This web service depicts potential geological sequestration sites and has been compiled as part of the Australian Petroleum Cooperative Research Centre's GEODISC program (1999-2002).

All commercially produced hydrogen worldwide is presently stored in salt caverns. The only known thick salt accumulations in eastern Australia are found in the Boree Salt of the Adavale Basin in central Queensland. The Boree Salt consists predominantly of halite and is considered to be suitable for hydrogen storage. In 2021, Geoscience Australia contracted Intrepid Geophysics to perform 3D geological modelling of the Adavale Basin, particularly interested in modelling the Boree Salt deposit in the region. The developed 3D model has identified three main salt bodies of substantial thicknesses (up to 555 m) that may be suitable for salt cavern construction and hydrogen storage. These are the only known salt bodies in eastern Australia and represent potentially strategic assets for underground hydrogen storage. However, there are still unknowns with further work and data acquisition required to fully assess the suitability of these salt bodies for hydrogen storage. Geoscience Australia has transformed Intrepid Geophysics' Adavale Basin 3D Modelling dataset into Petrel. This Petrel dataset is part of Geoscience Australia's Exploring for the Future program. Files including a readme file and Petrel dataset that consists of formation surfaces, faults, borehole information and formation tops. Disclaimer: Geoscience Australia has tried to make the information in this product as accurate as possible. However, it does not guarantee that the information is totally accurate or complete. Therefore, you should not solely rely on this information when making a commercial decision. This dataset is published with the permission of the CEO, Geoscience Australia.

This dataset features Australian hydrogen projects that are active in the development, construction, or operating phase, and meet renewable hydrogen or carbon capture and storage (CCS) hydrogen production methods outlined in Australia's National Hydrogen Strategy. This dataset aims is to provide a detailed snapshot of hydrogen activity across Australia. It includes location data, proponent details, and descriptions for all hydrogen projects listed. Additional data is included, such as the energy source for hydrogen production, the method of hydrogen production, and the amount of hydrogen to be produced per year. This dataset is the basis of the point-location map of active Australian hydrogen projects featured on the Australia Hydrogen Opportunities Tool (AusH2.ga.gov.au). AusH2 aims to attract investment in Australia’s hydrogen industry, providing high quality, free, online geospatial analysis tools and data for mapping and understanding Australia’s hydrogen potential. It hosts key national-scale datasets, such as locations of wind and solar resources and distribution of infrastructure, as well as the Hydrogen Economic Fairways Tool (HEFT) that maps the economic viability of hydrogen production in Australia. The user can examine both hydrogen production by electrolysis using renewable energy sources and fossil fuel produced hydrogen coupled with CCS. AusH2 was produced by Geoscience Australia for the Council of Australian Governments (COAG) Energy Council’s Hydrogen Working Group in 2019. Updates to this dataset since September 2020 are coordinated with research.csiro.au/HyResource

The integrated use of seismic and gravity data can help to assess the potential for underground hydrogen storage in salt caverns in the offshore Polda Basin, South Australia. Geophysical integration software was trialled to perform simultaneous modelling of seismic amplitudes and traveltime information, gravity, and gravity gradients within a 2.5D cross-section. The models were calibrated to existing gravity data, seismic and well logs improving mapping of the salt thickness and depth away from well control. Models included known salt deposits in the offshore parts of the basin and assessed the feasibility for detection of potential salt deposits in the onshore basin, where there is limited well and seismic coverage. The modelling confirms that candidate salt cavern storage sites with salt thicknesses greater than 400-500 m should be detectable on low altitude airborne gravity surveys. Identification of lower cost onshore storage sites will require careful calibration of gravity models against measured data, rather than relying on the observation of rounded anomalies associated with salt diapirism. Ranking of the most prospective storage sites could be optimized after the acquisition of more detailed gravity and gradiometry data, preferably accompanied by seismic reprocessing or new seismic data acquisition.

This web service features Australian hydrogen projects that are actively in the investigation, construction, or operating phase, and that align with green hydrogen production methods as outlined in Australia's National Hydrogen Strategy. The purpose of this dataset is to provide a detailed snapshot of hydrogen activity across Australia, and includes location data, operator/organisation details, and descriptions for all hydrogen projects listed.

This web service displays potential port locations for hydrogen export. This data is directly referenced to ‘The Australia Hydrogen Hubs Study – Technical Study’ by ARUP for the COAG Energy Council Hydrogen Working Group, 2019’.