Demands for the use of hydrogen as a sustainable and environmentally friendly fuel source have risen sharply. And along with this claim, some rational questions have also been raised. The South Australian and Rotterdam port authorities are jointly exploring the possibility of finding answers to the pertinent question of how to ensure the supply of this hydrogen according to future demand.
As part of this initiative, a pre-feasibility study report has recently been published stating that substantial progress has been made in ensuring hydrogen supply. The first hydrogen export shipment from South Australia to Rotterdam is expected to arrive in the next decade or even in the next three to four years.
The State Government of South Australia and the Port Authority of Rotterdam signed a Memorandum of Understanding last March on the feasibility of supplying hydrogen to Rotterdam from Australia. According to a pre-feasibility study report, South Australia will be ahead in the competition to export clean hydrogen to Europe due to adequate reserves of renewable energy. With the hydrogen available here, up to 10% of Rotterdam’s total demand could be met by 2050. Rotterdam’s hydrogen demand is expected to rise by 1 crore 80 lac tonnes per year during this period.
Efforts are being made to make the shipping sector carbon neutral by 2050. Naturally, after that time, the demand for hydrogen as a clean fuel will increase. Since the agreement was signed in March, Australian officials have been examining whether South Australia will be able to meet a significant portion of the hydrogen demand that will be generated at the port of Rotterdam in 2050.
