Wagga a potential 'hydrogen hub' in NSW strategy for future energy source

The legislation enabling funds for the strategy was approved by NSW Parliament on Friday with the aim of stimulating more than $80 billion in private investment and 10,000 jobs across the state in the new form of energy.

The strategy's main focus was on $70 million to develop hydrogen hubs in the Illawarra and Hunter regions.

However, Wagga's leaders have said the city has the ability to attract new jobs and businesses though developing hydrogen to supply energy to industrial users and fuel for transport.

The strategy also listed Wagga as a potential hydrogen hub due to the city's location near freight rail, high-voltage transmission lines, renewable energy and waste water treatment plants as a potential source for hydrogen gas.

Wagga mayor Greg Conkey said the city was ideally placed for hydrogen.

"Energy is a major component of this and Wagga is ideally situated, being the electricity transmission hub for southern Australia with power coming in from Snowy 2.0 and going out to South Australia and tapping into all the solar farms," Cr Conkey said.

"The Energy Minister Matt Kean months ago said Wagga had the potential of becoming the Hunter Valley of southern Australia ... it's the energy of the future, I'm sure."

The hydrogen strategy called for the government to fund a 100 per cent hydrogen reticulation gas pipeline in the Wagga special activation precinct through the $4.2 billion Snowy Hydro Legacy Fund.

"The Regional Growth NSW Development Corporation has already committed to funding a hydrogen reticulation network to supply industrial customers in the Wagga precinct," the strategy stated.

Reticulation networks use low-pressure pipelines to service particular areas, such as the special activation precinct at Bomen that will use streamlined planning approvals to attract new industrial businesses.

Committee 4 Wagga chief executive Brett Somerville said hydrogen was a clean energy source for the national plan to reach net zero carbon emissions.

"It's a great opportunity for Wagga to be part of the future," he said.

"We're a greenfield site, so it's quite easy for the storage and logistics side of hydrogen to be established in Wagga.

"Being halfway between Sydney and Melbourne and on the way to Adelaide means Wagga is a great location for the storage of hydrogen, which has to be treated specially when it is transported, and the rail line will be a significant part in that."

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