A seven-year QUT green energy project that successfully designed, built and tested a hydrogen pilot plant in Brisbane has received national recognition following the project’s completion.
The H2Xport Pilot Plant produces hydrogen from renewable resources and won the Zero Carbon Hydrogen category at the 2025 Smart Energy Excellence Awards in Sydney this month.
The awards are hosted by the Smart Energy Council – the peak independent body for the Australian smart energy industry and a strong advocate for the update of sun, wind, ocean and waste-powered energy.
The $7.5 million 50kW QUT plant, located at the Redlands Research Facility, uses locally produced solar energy to extract hydrogen from non-drinkable water such as seawater.
It includes battery storage, a micro-grid, hydrogen production and use, and has demonstrated a portable hydrogen refuelling station for hydrogen cars and buses.
The H2Xport Pilot Plant was conceived back in 2018 under the leadership of Emeritus Professor Ian Mackinnon, with the help of $3.35 million in funding from the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) and additional financial support from industry and university partners.
It has been fully operational since December 2024.
Over those years, the small-scale plant has tested and validated the viability of using renewable energy for hydrogen production and storage and become a model for potential larger-scale hydrogen production. It can produce up to 18kg of low-emission hydrogen daily, with this renewable power either used by the plant itself and the refuelling station, or exported to the Energex grid.
QUT project leader Professor Anthony O’Mullane, from the School of Chemistry and Physics, said the project had successfully demonstrated that green hydrogen is a viable renewable energy source.
“The H2Xport Pilot Plant has shown how hydrogen can be produced from renewable resources such as solar energy to power energy storage, and non-potable water treatment,” he said.
“It encompasses solar PV, advanced water desalination (through the work of Professor Graeme Millar), state-of-the-art battery storage, high-efficiency electrolysers, and next-generation fuel cells, representing a significant development in system level hydrogen research and development.
“The plant was successfully commissioned in December last year and is essentially a ‘proof of concept’ testbed that bridges the gap between innovative concepts and practical deployment.
“We hope that it will inspire burgeoning clean tech startups and established industry leaders to look more closely at green hydrogen.”
Pilot plant manager Navin Bhardwaj said the plant had welcomed more than 200 site visitors since being commissioned in December.
“The plant fosters the development of future hydrogen experts because we offer hands-on training to researchers, engineers, and technicians,” he said.
“It’s not just a pilot plant; it’s a catalyst for accelerating the development and deployment of green hydrogen technologies while simultaneously cultivating the highly skilled workforce essential for this burgeoning industry.”
Associate Professor Joshua Watts, who leads the Queensland Energy Storage Technology Hub (QUEST Hub) at QUT, said advanced battery energy storage was a key component of the H2Xport Pilot Plant.
And he said the plant wasn’t just helping QUT researchers.
“H2Xport serves as a wider platform for industry and academic partners to test, validate and refine new technologies and products,” he said.
“These include battery companies such as Vaulta Batteries and Lavo Hydrogen Batteries, who have leveraged the plant’s capabilities to accelerate their own product development cycles.
“The H2Xport Pilot Plant has created as an excellent platform for collaboration and cross training between industry and academia, with the industry partners playing a key role in the success of the project.”
The design, construction and commissioning of the H2Xport Pilot Plant has been outlined in the journal Energy Storage and Applications in a project report by former QUT Associate Professor Jonathan Love, former QUT project manager Michelle Gane, Professor O’Mullane and Emeritus Professor Mackinnon.
QUT’s major partners in the H2Xport Pilot Plant are ARENA, Energy Developments Ltd, CS Energy, Sumitomo Electric Industries, Sumitomo Australia P/L, Queensland Government, University of Tokyo, Swinburne University of Technology and Griffith University.
This activity received funding from ARENA as part of ARENA’s Research and Development Program – Renewable Hydrogen for Export.
