Toowoomba businesses hope to crack multibillion-dollar hydrogen sector with new supplier portal by TSBE

Hydrogen energy is expected to be worth billions for the Darling Downs over the next 10 years and now a new portal has been created to let businesses find out how they can be part of it.

CAPTURING FUTURE: Launching the new online portal for Toowoomba businesses to sign up for opportunities in the emerging hydrogen supply chain are CS Energy's Emma Roberts and TSBE's Lance McManus.

Businesses across Toowoomba and southwest Queensland have a chance to find out how they can become part of the emerging hydrogen energy sector, which is expected to be worth “billions” to the region within a decade.

Economy lobby group Toowoomba and Surat Basin Enterprise has launched a new online portal that determines an operator’s ability to contribute to the hydrogen fuel supply chain.

The hydrogen capability mapping portal has been completed with the help of CS Energy, which is hoping to start work soon on a new $20m demonstration hydrogen plant at Kogan Creek, near the Chinchilla.

The 700KW plant will be powered by solar and then export hydrogen to overseas countries, starting with the Republic of Palau in the Pacific Ocean.

TSBE’s energy general manager Lance McManus said hydrogen would soon become a lucrative part of the region’s energy sector.

“The hydrogen sector will be worth about $200b globally by 2030, so we want to understand what the local opportunities in that global market are,” he said.

“Hydrogen will be the next step in the energy journey for the Surat Basin to become the energy capital of the world.

“What we want to do is understand what it means locally and get a piece of the pie — it could be worth a couple of billion dollars in the future.

“We want to work early with proponents like CS Energy to map out what those opportunities are.”

CS Energy acting general manager of future energy Emma Roberts said the company was looking forward to seeing what the current and future capabilities of the region were to take part in the hydrogen sector.

“The Surat Basin is already plentiful with energy resources, we think we can build on those skills to produce the world’s first renewable hydrogen plant in Queensland,” she said.

“We have a project that’s about to set up for construction and it’s going to be renewable hydrogen.

“We’ll be able to use businesses in the region, so we can look to the export potential and bring the region with us.”

To find out more about the portal, head to the TSBE website.