The City of Cockburn's response to the Cockburn Gazette on 8 January 2020 to questions about a $149,0000 State Government grant for a renewable hydrogen feasibility study -
Question: Are you able to explain in the simplest terms possible, what is the purpose of this study? What is the city is hoping to discover as part of this study?
Answer: The City’s $325,704 feasibility study (including the $149,412 grant from the State Government) will determine the more detailed engineering, design requirements and economics of a green hydrogen energy park at Henderson Waste Recovery Park to help inform investment decisions.
The City proposes to generate hydrogen from solar power as a zero emissions transport fuel for its waste collection and light vehicle fleets.
An additional aim of this project is to provide hydrogen for embedded co-generation at Cockburn ARC and the new administration building.
The City has already invested funds completing a strategy paper to determine options for converting Henderson Waste Recovery Park (WRP) into a resource recovery precinct with an associated energy park.
A renewable off-grid hydrogen plant at Henderson WRP would use solar PV array to power a deionised water electrolysis plant. This plant would enable:
- Refuelling of zero-emissions fuel storage cells for 15-16 electric waste collection trucks and 50 light vehicles over a two-year period,
- Compressed hydrogen would also be transported to embedded fuel cell cogeneration at Cockburn ARC to reduce power purchased from the grid during peak power cost periods and provide thermal heating for the pool water to off-set natural gas usage via the collection of thermal energy from the fuel cell,
- Compressed hydrogen could be used to power and heat the City’s new administration building via a green hydrogen cell, in 4-5 years. Other City infrastructure like the resource recovery precinct could also be provided with uninterrupted power systems.
Question: Why waste collection and light vehicle fleets in particular? At this stage, what do you believe the benefits of these light vehicle fleets may be?
Answer: Waste vehicles are a suitable choice for renewable fuels due to their high utilisation, consistent refuelling location, consistent routes and large size allowing larger hydrogen tanks.
Question: What does the City see as an advantage of solar hydrogen as compared to other energy sources?
Answer: In Cockburn we have the basis for hydrogen generation at a low $ for kg rate due to support using hydrogen as a transport fuel and for distributed fuel cell co-generation infrastructure. We have:
- Available land with low opportunity cost – capped landfill at Henderson WRP
- Low cost of PV solar technology
- Low cost water with the ability recycle leachate water.
WA is well placed to be a national and international leader in renewable hydrogen due to:
- High solar irradiance intensity resulting in low levelised cost of electricity from PV solar arrays
- Existing infrastructure and offtakers for renewable hydrogen and energy
- Geographical proximity to key export markets, and
- Local land use intensity providing ample available land.
Question: Anything else you would like to add?
Answer: The City considers two main areas when making investment decisions – financial and environmental.
The aim of an energy park at Henderson WRP provides an internal rate of return greater than 10 per cent and a payback period of 10 years, with the end result of lowering the average cost of supplying electricity and energy to all City facilities.
In line with the City’s Sustainability Strategy, published annually, the City aims to reduce its carbon footprint, reduce greenhouse emissions and extend the use of renewables to power the City’s assets.
Open and continuous community engagement would occur during the planning and operational phases of establishing a green hydrogen energy park at Henderson WRP.
This project, particularly the off-grid solar PV array, will provide a framework for regional and off-grid communities and businesses interested generating renewable hydrogen fuel, electricity and/or thermal energy.