Making Waves with Hydrogen in Aotearoa New Zealand
It is a real privilege to be a member of the New Zealand Hydrogen Council and it was both exciting and very informative to attend the first H2-2-Zero Hydrogen Summit in Wellington, Aotearoa New Zealand in May 2022.
The two-day summit was the brainchild of Dr. Linda Wright (CEO of the Hydrogen Council) and because of various COVID-19 delays, it has been more than two years in the pipeline. It was certainly well worth the wait.
Over the two days, we heard from leading industry experts from all over the world as well as plenty of homegrown talent from Aotearoa New Zealand.
The conference was opened by the Honorable Dr. Megan Woods, Minister of Energy & Resources, H.E. Ambassador Koichi Ito, Ambassador of Japan to New Zealand, and Neeraj Lala, CEO of Toyota New Zealand. It was reassuring to hear our government speaking so favorably about the need for and future of green hydrogen resources and solutions here in Aotearoa New Zealand. Government bodies, large industries, foreign organizations, global sports organizations, and major education establishments were all lined up to present to an audience of nearly 200 over the next two days.
More than 40 presenters participated to share insights within the following topic areas:
International perspectives
New Zealand developments
Government policy and international
International hydrogen supply chains
Energy security and resilience
Hydrogen mobility
Hydrogen at scale
R&D investment and skills development
Of their many, many highlights of the summit here are just a few that are demonstrating the skill, appetite, and passion for a world where hydrogen is a key component of our lives at every level.
Energy partnership to make green hydrogen
Mike Fuge, CEO of Contact Energy, and Neal Barclay, CEO of Meridian Energy shared their plans to partner together and create what will be one of the world’s largest green hydrogen plants under the name of Southern Green Hydrogen. This 600 MW facility will make use of southlands abundant green hydro-generated electricity to electrolyze and make hydrogen that can be used here in Aotearoa New Zealand as well as being exported to other countries.
More electric/hydrogen passenger ferries are heading our way
Mike Horne, CEO from Fuller Group shared exciting plans to show how the waterways around Auckland’s busy harbour will soon be quieter and a lot greener with the introduction of electric and hydrogen powered ferry vessels within their fleet. There is already a fully electric ferry in operation in Wellington that carries passengers every day, and this has set a ball rolling that is not going to stop with ferries.
The fast, green, world-leading Emirates Team New Zealand hydrogen chase boat
Grant Dalton, CEO of Emirates Team New Zealand enthusiastically shared the industry-leading work that the team in Aotearoa New Zealand has been doing in the design and building of the world’s first, competition-ready, Americas Cup chase boats powered by hydrogen fuel cells. The first working boat is on the water right now and being tested every day. It has a top speed of 50 knots and a range of over 160km on one tank of hydrogen. All competing teams in the next Americas Cup race in September 2024 will be required to have at least one (if not two) hydrogen fuel cell-powered chase boats.
Hyundai bringing hydrogen (FCEV) cars and trucks into Aotearoa New Zealand
Andy Sinclair, CEO of Hyundai New Zealand reminded us of the great work they are doing to bring hydrogen fuel cell vehicles into the country. Nearly three years ago they bought the first Nexo models into the country to demonstrate the future of electric vehicles. Since then they have also brought in the Xcient fuel cell truck. This has been converted to righthand drive for Aotearoa New Zealand roads and will soon be in full operation. The pre-orders for the next 20 to 30 trucks are already filled and so the heavy freight business across the country will soon be still heavy but with a much lighter carbon footprint.
There were so many more fantastic presentations, shared stories, learning, and testimonials to the application of and power of using hydrogen to fuel our future. From domestic hydrogen fuel cell aircraft that will soon be traversing our two islands, universities that are leading in global research, Christchurch Airport that has a vision of being a lot more sustainable, to a hydrogen refueling network for the country – hydrogen has not only made an impression on every key area of our country, it is here to stay for the long term and will benefit us all.
We look forward to working with more and more of these other hydrogen advocates in the coming weeks and months.