Australia's natural gas pipeline owners are working to future proof their A$75 billion ($59 billion) in assets amid a global push towards clean energy, running tests to blend hydrogen with gas and produce green methane to replace the fossil fuel.
Pipeline and network owners have already committed A$180 million to a range of projects involving green hydrogen.
Australian states have pledged to achieve net zero carbon emissions by 2050, in line with many developed countries, but Canberra has yet to commit to the 2050 timeframe.
"It's a business risk we all need to manage," said Ben Wilson, chief executive of Australian Gas Infrastructure Group (AGIG), owned by units of Hong Kong-based CK Group.
"What started out as defensive has become an opportunity, particularly given our renewable energy sources. We can become the world's largest exporter of green hydrogen," he told Reuters.
Pipeline owners seeking government funding for hydrogen projects aim to show how their infrastructure can be used to deliver hydrogen in blends with gas and store hydrogen as a form of renewable energy storage.
"At the end of the day, we also think that continuing to use this infrastructure allows the whole economy to decarbonize at a lower cost," said Dennis Van Puyvelde, head of gas for Energy Networks Australia.
A study done for the industry body last year found that to achieve net zero emissions by 2050, building a hydrogen distribution network would cost half as much as expanding power networks to serve businesses and industries that currently rely on gas, and save Australia some A$13 billion.
Pipeline companies are working on a shorter time frame than 2050, as some states are pushing to have 10% hydrogen in gas pipelines by 2030.
