Hydrogen Production

Mr PATTERSON (Morphett) (14:10): Will the hydrogen power plant be entirely government owned? With your leave, and that of the house, I will explain.

Leave granted.

Mr PATTERSON: Before the election, Labor promise that the hydrogen power plant would be entirely government owned, but the government's latest tender documents for the plant state: 'This might include co-ownership opportunities.'

The Hon. P.B. MALINAUSKAS (Croydon—Premier) (14:11): The government's hydrogen electrolyser and power plant facility—the policy of the government is for it to be publicly owned. If there are opportunities to expand the scope in conjunction with the private sector, we remain open to that, and we always have been.

An honourable member interjecting:

The Hon. P.B. MALINAUSKAS: We always have been. The facility that we committed to build to the people of South Australia at the election will be publicly owned, as is the government's stated policy. Questions around this facility are welcome from those opposite, notwithstanding the fact that we note the opposition, or the Liberal Party in government and presumably now in opposition, have consistently made clear their opposition to this program, to this policy effort, a position to which they are well entitled. I assume at one point or another they opposed the big battery too; certainly their leader at the time referred to it as the 'big banana'.

On this side of the house, we believe that government has a role to play to lead. The simple fact is that decarbonisation is something that necessarily needs to occur not just for the future of our planet but also for the future of our economy. In South Australia, we have a very rare and real opportunity to translate our renewable resource into jobs.

The Leader of the Opposition asked a question at the beginning of question time about economic vision and policies. We believe that renewable energy, our coincident wind and solar resource, which is unmatched almost anywhere in the world, represents a chance to create new jobs, to create new wealth, to generate new industry for the people of our state and do it in such a way that it also makes a world-leading contribution to the effort to decarbonise.

What is now I think beyond dispute is that hydrogen has a role to play in this. There will be different people and different analysis that will have different views about what role hydrogen will play in the new economy and the extent that it will participate in energy production. But what is not in doubt is that it will have a role to play, and we have a chance to produce hydrogen cheaper than almost anywhere else in the world because of that coincident wind and solar resource.

Our facility will be the world's largest hydrogen electrolyser at the time that it is built, and then we are going to use that hydrogen to generate power. We are doing that in South Australia because we have a unique set of circumstances in respect of our energy market because of the fact that we have more green renewables than anywhere else in the world. We are going to store that hydrogen and then use it to generate electricity at times when the price is high.

That presents another material benefit because it means we can provide a firming service to yet more renewable investment that we know is locked up at the moment. We want to provide a service to would-be new renewable generation, a firming service, so they can then participate in the electricity market, which we believe will have the impact of reducing the wholesale price of electricity, as was outlined in the policy document that we committed to the people of South Australia.

We would like to see that positive impact on the market from the moment that the facility comes online, notwithstanding the fact that we know that it operates within a national market, a national market that, of course, is a private national market of which those opposite are largely the architects—

The Hon. J.A.W. Gardner: So, early 2026?

The SPEAKER: Member for Morialta!

The Hon. P.B. MALINAUSKAS: —because they are the ones who chose to privatise ETSA. On this side of the house—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The Treasurer is called to order. Member for Colton!

The Hon. P.B. MALINAUSKAS: —we have a government policy to build a world-leading—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. P.B. MALINAUSKAS: —hydrogen electrolyser and power plant using green renewables that is publicly owned, and on that side of the house—

The Hon. J.A.W. Gardner: So lower prices from February 2026?

The SPEAKER: Member for Morialta!

The Hon. P.B. MALINAUSKAS: —they have a policy for privatisation.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! The member for Morialta and the member for Colton are warned.