Sparc Hydrogen awarded for creating a greener future in SA

Sparc Hydrogen, an initiative of the University of Adelaide, Flinders University, Sparc Technologies and integrated green technology, energy and metals company Fortescue, has embarked on a project to design, engineer, construct and demonstrate a breakthrough hydrogen reactor that doesn’t use electricity or produce carbon emissions.

Instead, the technology, which was developed at the University of Adelaide, will be directly powered by the sun, splitting water into hydrogen and oxygen using a process known as photocatalytic water splitting.

The Climate Leaders Awards recognise the achievements of individuals and organisations who take action to address climate change in South Australia.

“We are very pleased that Sparc Hydrogen has been recognised in the State Government’s SA Climate Leaders Awards,” says the University of Adelaide’s Professor Greg Metha, who is Lead Researcher at Sparc Hydrogen.

“Sparc Hydrogen was founded to deliver commercially viable green hydrogen through a unique process that uses only sunlight, water and a photocatalyst, and this award demonstrates the way our research is contributing to South Australia’s aim of being a world leader in green energy.

“We could not have achieved this recognition with the hard work of our team, and our industry partners Sparc Technologies and Fortescue.”

Zero-emissions low-cost hydrogen is critical to the Australian Government’s priorities of renewable energy and low emissions fuels to decarbonise heavy industries that cannot be easily electrified.

Affordable, reliable, and emissions-free hydrogen production is also essential to the South Australian Government’s plans to foster a green manufacturing industry.

Once commercialised, Sparc Hydrogen expects the water-splitting technology, called SPARC-H2, will produce hydrogen at a cost that won’t be affected by electricity prices.

Having validated the reactor in the lab and in the field at the CSIRO’s Newcastle solar thermal facility, Sparc Hydrogen is now in the process of scaling up, de-risking and accelerating SPARC-H2 to Technology Readiness Level 7 to enable South Australian industries to transition to zero-emissions, affordable hydrogen.

The scalability and cost-effectiveness of the SPARC-H2 reactor means that it can be adopted more broadly, encouraging the transition to renewable energy sources within all regions of South Australia.

“If Sparc Hydrogen technology is successful, it could ultimately be used to help produce green hydrogen at a larger and much more affordable scale,” says Mark Hutchinson, CEO of Fortescue Energy.