CQUniversity welcomes hydrogen hub commitment

CQUniversity has welcomed news that the $69 million Clean Hydrogen Industrial Hub' to be established in Central Queensland' is in line to receive funding from the Commonwealth's Clean Energy Hubs program.

CQUniversity along with a consortium of partners' applied for hub funding under the Clean Energy Hubs implementation grant round to establish a Hydrogen Centre of Excellence.

The Centre will focus on hydrogen and renewable energy research and the development of new training packages that will help to train and upskill workforces.

CQUniversity will also play a key role in ongoing community engagement activities related to hydrogen training' production and application.

CQUniversity's Vice-Chancellor and President' Professor Nick Klomp said that the University was committed to working with industry partners in the region to deliver the research and training required to establish a successful clean energy sector out of Central Queensland.

'We have been working alongside these partners for some time now to determine that there is strong potential to establish Gladstone as a global powerhouse for the production' sale and export of clean energy.

'CQUniversity is committed to continuing this work and ensuring we can provide industry with ongoing knowledge and expertise that is informed by research.

'Importantly we also want to ensure that we are delivering industry with highly skilled workforces who have been trained in our region'' said Professor Klomp.

CQUniversity's Chair of Hydrogen and Renewable Energy' Professor Murray Shearer said that the announcement was a welcome development in establishing a thriving clean energy industry in the region.

'This is an exciting development for the Gladstone region and CQUniversity looks forward to collaborating with industry to determine the research and innovations required to drive the adoption of green hydrogen for export in Gladstone and to develop the zero emissions technologies required by industry.

'To do this' CQUniversity has established a Hydrogen and Renewable Energies Centre' that has a dual focus on research and training' and we have also developed an ambitious proposal for an industry training centre that can also carry out applied research.

'The training centre would complement existing infrastructure on the Gladstone Marina campus and allow us to increase our research and training outputs including foundation skills' electrolyser operation' instrumentation and process control and advanced manufacturing.

'We are hoping to attract government support to make this project a reality as we believe it is vital to invest in this equipment and infrastructure now'' said Professor Shearer.