Australia’s national science agency, the CSIRO, has successfully trialled its game-changing hydrogen production technology at BlueScope Steel´s Port Kembla Steelworks (PKSW), demonstrating affordable and renewable hydrogen can be generated at scale to help decarbonise heavy industry. The CSIRO’s tubular solid oxide electrolysis (SOE) technology has clocked 1000 hours of successful operation in the trial with BlueScope Steel which commenced in October 2024.

Unlike conventional hydrogen electrolysers, which rely heavily on electricity to split water into hydrogen and oxygen, the CSIRO’s advanced SOE technology uses both waste heat (for example, steam from the steelworks) and electricity to produce hydrogen with greater efficiency. Dr Sarb Giddey, senior principal research scientist and group leader in the CSIRO, said the trial produced hydrogen with an electrical input of less than 36kWh per kilogram of hydrogen, by using the steam produced in the plant by the steelmaking processes.

“Since electricity takes up the lion’s share of variable production costs for renewable hydrogen, a substantial reduction in the electricity required (up to 30% saving) for hydrogen production could be a game changer for the nascent hydrogen industry,” Dr Giddey said.

Chris Page, head of Future Technologies at BlueScope, sees hydrogen as an important part of BlueScope’s pathway to net zero. “BlueScope is proud to support pilot projects on site, which align with our goals of low carbon emission steelmaking in the future. The CSIRO electrolyser pilot has produced positive outcomes in its short-term operation, and we look forward to seeing it evolve”, Mr Page said.

The CSIRO spinout, Hadean Energy, has licensed the CSIRO’s SOE technology and is on a mission to accelerate industrial decarbonisation. “The 1000-hour milestone validates the technology in a real-world industrial setting, increasing the technology readiness level to prepare for commercialisation,” said Chris Rowland, CEO of Hadean Energy.