The Queensland and Western Australian Governments have become Founding Partners in the Smart Energy Council’s Zero Carbon Certification Scheme.
Launched in December 2020, the industry-led Guarantee of Origin style scheme aims to accelerate the development and deployment of renewable hydrogen, green ammonia and green metals (such as green steel and green zinc), in Australia and overseas.
A Guarantee of Origin is a certificate instrument that labels the origin of a product and provides information to customers on the source of their products and how they are made.
The Smart Energy Council’s scheme will certify the renewable hydrogen, green ammonia or green metal has been made from renewable energy sources, and provide an embedded carbon rating. It will operate as a tracking system for the amount of greenhouse gas emissions connected with the production.
Western Australian Hydrogen Industry Minister, Alannah MacTiernan, said when it comes to the renewable hydrogen industry, WA’s competitive advantages give the state a head start.
“Signing on to the Smart Energy Council’s Zero Carbon Certification Scheme as a founding partner reflects our commitment to making sure Western Australia continues on its path to becoming an industry leader,” Minister MacTiernan said.
“As a founding partner, our Government will collaborate with the Smart Energy Council and its other domestic and international partners to develop and implement the scheme.”
While speaking at the Queensland Smart Energy Summit, Minister for Energy, Renewables and Hydrogen, Mick de Brenni, said partnering with the Zero Carbon Certification Scheme will bring further investor confidence to the state.
“The production of hydrogen as a fuel gives us potential to power transport and export energy to the world, but to truly decarbonise, Queensland hydrogen has to be made from Queensland sunshine and wind,” Minister de Brenni said.
“As a founding partner of the Smart Energy Council’s Zero Carbon Certification Scheme, buyers of Queensland’s hydrogen can choose a product made by electrolysers powered only from renewable energy.”
“This certification program is another important signal that we are ready to develop a renewable hydrogen sector to power our mining fleet, our transport sector, freight networks and create new export markets while reducing emissions,” he said.
“We are sending a very clear message that Queensland is serious about decarbonising and that our hydrogen can be produced to the highest environmental standards.”
Other Founding Partners of the Zero Carbon Certification Scheme include the ACT and Victorian Governments, as well as Ammonia Energy Association, COP26 High Level Champions for Climate Action, CWP Global, Energy Web, Power Ledger, Star Scientific, Yara, Evoenergy, the ACT Renewables Hub, HydroREC, GasBot and Green Hydrogen Catapult.
The German Energy Agency (dena) and the Australian National University are Advisers and Green Hydrogen Catapult is also a Partner Initiative for the scheme.
