2023 Industry Laureate Profile: Senior Professor Gerhard Swiegers

Senior Professor Gerhard Swiegers

Administering Organisation: University of Wollongong

Fellowship Project Summary 

IL230100173 – Accelerating Green Hydrogen Production with High Efficiency Electrolysers

The National Hydrogen Strategy aims to leverage Australia’s abundance in solar and wind power to generate renewable electricity and then convert this to green hydrogen — an energy-dense renewable fuel. Green hydrogen will be essential for us to achieve net-zero. A key future enabler of this plan is the recent development by the applicant, of a new type of electrolyser that is being commercialized by Hysata Pty Ltd. This electrolyser has ultra-high energy efficiency, consuming about 20% less energy with accompanying higher yields of green hydrogen from renewable sources. This will reduce the cost of producing green hydrogen to well below $2/kg, making it cost-competitive with fossil fuels. This project will support the development of a sovereign Australian hydrogen manufacturing capacity at GW scale, with accompanying decarbonisation and employment benefits. It is estimated that green hydrogen, will provide 15–20% of global energy demand in 2050, worth USD$1.7 trillion. The new technology is expected to help Australia capture a large share of that market.

Australian Research Council funding: $3,689,641

Industry Partner: Hysata Pty Ltd

To find out more about Professor Swiegers, please visit his profile page here.

For further information about this funding scheme, please visit the Industry Laureate Fellowships page.