Victorian Energy and Resources Minister Lily D’Ambrosio (right) and Victorian South-Eastern Metropolitan Region member Lee Tarlamis (left) visited Energys in Mulgrave to kick off the Telstra Hydrogen Fuel Cell pilot. Photo: Lily D’Ambrosio.
Five regional Victorian areas that suffered outages after the powerful 2021 storms will receive new 10-kilowatt renewable hydrogen generators.
These new generators will boost the energy resilience of five established mobile base stations in Coldstream, Kinglake, Christmas Hills, Chum Creek and Neerim North.
The new systems will outperform the existing battery-powered systems, providing 72 hours of backup power when power outages occur.
“This innovative project uses renewable energy to keep the power running during an emergency, helping to maintain vital telecommunications, which is critical as we encounter more frequent extreme weather events,” Victorian Energy and Resources Minister Lily D’Ambrosio said.
Victorian South-Eastern Metropolitan Region member Lee Tarlamis agreed.
“This trial will help to improve network resilience using new renewable hydrogen technology,” he said.
More than $1.1 million was provided by the Victorian Government to commission the Telstra Hydrogen Fuel Cell Pilot project, which will demonstrate the reliability of renewable hydrogen as a zero-emissions fuel for generator power over diesel.
Telstra Group Executive for Global Networks and Technology Nikos Katinakis said the project would provide valuable data and experience on the emerging technology.
“We rely on mains power to operate, and when that fails, we rely on temporary backup energy from batteries and generators to keep our network running,” he explained.
“Telstra is always keen to investigate alternative energy options to help keep our customers connected and improve the sustainability of our operations.”
The project was funded under the state government’s $6.6 million Renewable Hydrogen Commercialisation Pathways Fund, which has awarded grants to five projects trialling renewable hydrogen in the real world.
A further eight recipients received a share of more than $600,000 under the Renewable Hydrogen Business Ready Fund to develop business cases or feasibility studies to support their transition to the new fuel.
The Victorian Government said these projects were a key step towards developing renewable hydrogen, which the state’s Gas Substitution Roadmap confirmed would play a critical but targeted role in Victoria’s renewable energy transition.
“We’re supporting the state’s emerging renewable hydrogen sector to play a key part [in] our transition to 95 per cent renewable energy by 2035,” Ms D’Ambrosio said.
