Funding awarded for electrolyser manufacturing in Port Kembla

Hysata is set to receive up to $49 million in funding from the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) to support the establishment of a commercial-scale electrolyser manufacturing line at Port Kembla in New South Wales.

The $98 million project will establish a 50 MW per annum manufacturing line for Hysata’s Australian-developed capillary-fed electrolyser technology, with the facility designed to scale to 200 MW per annum through 24-hour operations as demand grows.

Developed from research at the University of Wollongong, Hysata’s technology is designed to produce renewable hydrogen more efficiently, helping lower costs and supporting the decarbonisation of hard-to-abate industries such as steelmaking, chemicals, shipping and heavy transport.

The project includes the deployment of early commercial megawatt-scale electrolyser systems, helping demonstrate the technology in real-world applications and support future commercial growth.

ARENA CEO Darren Miller said building Australia’s capability to manufacture renewable energy technologies locally would be critical to capturing more value from the energy transition.

“Australia has world-class clean energy innovators, and Hysata is a great example of home-grown technology with the potential to compete globally,” he said. “This project will help move Australian innovation from the lab into large-scale manufacturing, creating skilled jobs while strengthening Australia’s capability to produce critical clean energy technologies locally.

“By supporting advanced manufacturing of electrolysers here in Australia, we’re helping build the industries that can underpin a future renewable hydrogen sector and create long-term economic opportunities.”

A key feature of the project is the planned local manufacture of core electrolyser components, including membranes, anodes and cathodes, supporting Australia’s sovereign manufacturing capability and clean energy supply chains.

Top image credit: Hysata