The Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) has announced $22.8 million in funding to Viva Energy Group Limited (Viva Energy) to develop, build and operate the New Energies Service Station located in Geelong, Victoria, to support the uptake of hydrogen fuel cell electric vehicles (FCEV) in heavy fleets.
The project will be built opposite Viva Energy’s petroleum refinery and incorporate a 2 MW electrolyser along with hydrogen compression, storage and dispensing infrastructure. The service station will also include 150 kW electric vehicle (EV) charging facilities.
ARENA’s funding will go towards both the renewable hydrogen and EV infrastructure, as well as to subsidise the purchase and operations of 15 hydrogen FCEVs to help fast-track FCEV uptake.
All vehicles will be purchased and owned by project partners. Toll Group, ComfortDelGro Corporation Australia, Cleanaway and Barwon Water have committed to purchasing hydrogen FCEVs for their fleets which include prime movers, wastewater and municipal waste collection vehicles and buses.
Locating the project adjacent to Viva Energy’s Geelong refinery provides a number of benefits to the project, including a high level of visibility, due to its proximity to major arterial roads and being within an existing industrial area, as well as access to high voltage infrastructure and access to recycled water from the nearby Barwon Water recycling plant for production of hydrogen.
ARENA CEO Darren Miller said: “We’re excited to be working with Viva Energy to build Australia’s first publicly available hydrogen refuelling station to independent fleets. The experiences of Viva Energy and fleet vehicles using the renewable hydrogen produced onsite for refuelling will provide valuable insights into the operation of different types of hydrogen FCEV heavy vehicles.”
Viva Energy CEO Scott Wyatt added: “This funding from ARENA has opened the door for Viva Energy to work with long-term customers to demonstrate the important role that hydrogen will play in the future of transportation in Australia. This project puts hydrogen-powered vehicles on the road to prove their value in day-to-day commercial operations while reducing the carbon footprint of the heavy vehicle transport, on which we rely every day.”
For more information on this project, visit arena.gov.au.