Hydrogen in New Zealand

New Zealand has a highly renewable electricity system and significant potential for new generation capacity that could be used to produce green hydrogen as a next generation, low-emissions fuel and energy carrier. Green hydrogen has the potential to help reduce our emissions in some hard-to-electrify applications such as long-haul heavy transport, specialty vehicles, industrial feedstocks, process heat, and in future aviation and marine transport.

A growing hydrogen industry in New Zealand can help New Zealand achieve its commitments to reduce net emissions of all greenhouse gases (except biogenic methane) to zero by 2050, create highly-skilled jobs, and could underpin our energy security and resilience by reducing dependence on imported fuels and providing back-up power options.

Hydrogen in New Zealand has potential to support decarbonisation efforts overseas through a future market for export trade of hydrogen or hydrogen-based derivatives. It will be important to ensure be able to increase renewable electricity generation and transmission capacity to match this ambition, without compromising domestic electrification.

As part of 'Electrify NZ' the Government has committed to doubling renewable energy by 2050, and has a programme of work underway to remove red tape to support the private investment needed to achieve this goal. 

The New Zealand Hydrogen Council was formed in September 2018 by private and public sector organisations along with seed funding from MBIE to support the progression and uptake of low-emission hydrogen in New Zealand.

New Zealand Hydrogen Council(external link)

Interim hydrogen roadmap

Developing a hydrogen roadmap was an action in the first Emissions Reduction Plan, released in 2022. The hydrogen roadmap builds on the green paper A Vision for Hydrogen released in 2019. Work is underway on next steps.

We sought public feedback on an Interim Hydrogen Roadmap in late 2023, which outlines initial positions on the role of hydrogen in meeting our energy system, climate and economic goals, and proposed actions to establish a sustainable and safe hydrogen industry in Aotearoa New Zealand. 

We received 79 submissions during consultation. These submissions, and a summary report of key themes, are now available.

Read the submissions summary report

Read the submissions(external link)

For more information, visit:

mbie.govt.nz/ourenergyfuture

Hydrogen projects in Aotearoa New Zealand

New Zealand is home to a vibrant early-stage hydrogen ecosystem. The New Zealand Hydrogen Council publishes a list of hydrogen projects in New Zealand. A number of these projects were supported by co-funding from government.

NZ Hydrogen Projects(external link) — Hydrogen New Zealand

Reviewing hydrogen regulatory settings

Hydrogen is already well regulated for its traditional uses, but existing regulatory systems are not well set up to support new hydrogen technologies and applications. It is important to evaluate how fit-for-purpose the current regulatory settings are for new hydrogen technologies and novel applications of hydrogen, such as a low-emissions fuel, and ensure they are consistent with international best practice standards.

Ensuring the current regulatory settings are fit-for-purpose is critical for facilitating the safe introduction of new hydrogen technologies and applications, and in promoting domestic and international investment in hydrogen in New Zealand.

The Government’s focus is on reducing regulatory barriers, to enable private investment and facilitate the uptake of hydrogen. This is a priority for next steps in our work.

Work to date has included:

• MBIE initiated the Hydrogen Regulatory Settings Project and commissioned a report by PwC to review the regulatory frameworks required to support a future hydrogen economy in New Zealand and potential reform pathways needed:
  New Zealand’s hydrogen regulatory pathway [PDF, 3.6 MB] 
• WorkSafe established a working group to ensure the risks to health and safety in adopting new hydrogen technologies are adequately managed, identify regulatory gaps, and establish whether there are regulatory barriers to industry adopting new hydrogen technologies.
• Standards New Zealand’s is reviewing of technical standards governing the production, distribution and utilisation of hydrogen. This has included the 2024 consultation on the direct adoption of 13 ISO standards for hydrogen.
  See Hydrogen report guiding the way for hydrogen integration across New Zealand(external link) — Standards New Zealand

Government investment in hydrogen research, science and innovation

To date, $45.5 million in hydrogen-related research has been funded through the research, science and innovation system. Examples include:

• $8.5 million from MBIE’s Endeavour Fund in 2020 for GNS Science’s project ‘Powering NZ’s green-hydrogen economy: Next-generation electrocatalytic systems for energy production and storage’
• $1 million from MBIE’s Endeavour Fund in 2019 for GNS Science research on ‘Nano-catalytic surfaces for efficient, stable fuel cells and eco-friendly hydrogen production’.
• $9 million from the Government’s Advanced Energy Technology Platform invested in GNS Science’s programme ‘Aotearoa: Green Hydrogen Technology’ in 2020.
• $6.5 million from MBIE’s Endeavour Fund in 2019 invested in the Robinson Research Institute (Victoria University of Wellington)’s Zero-CO2 production of essential technological metals, which is researching the use of hydrogen in steel-making
• $2.6 million to establish the German New Zealand Green Hydrogen Research Centre and co-fund three research projects with the German Federal Ministry for Education and Research (BMBF)
• $11.8 million for Pūhiko Nukutū: a green hydrogen geostorage battery in Taranaki, a project led by the University of Canterbury to assess the potential for underground geological hydrogen storage.

Support for uptake of hydrogen vehicles

Converting heavy transport away from fossil fuels is a key step in reducing emissions. To support the uptake of hydrogen vehicles, the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority (EECA) has worked with several New Zealand firms on hydrogen demonstration projects through the Low Emission Vehicles Contestable Fund (LEVCF), its successor the Low Emission Transport Fund (LETF), and the ‘shovel-ready’ infrastructure programme.

The following hydrogen projects have benefited from Government funding:

• $160,000 for Auckland Transport to trial a hydrogen fuel cell bus, built by Christchurch firm Global Bus Ventures Ltd. The bus has been operating since 2021.
• $500,000 for Hyundai Motors New Zealand to purchase and deploy a fleet of 5 medium duty hydrogen trucks. The first truck has been leased to NZ Post, which has been operating the vehicle since 2022.
• $16 million loan for Hiringa Energy to establish a hydrogen refuelling network in the North Island. 
• $6 million for Funded TR Group to support the purchase up to 20 heavy freight hydrogen trucks. TR Group will lease the trucks to its customers and use Hiringa’s hydrogen refuelling network.
• $389,000 for HW Richardson to support the purchase of six hydrogen conversion kits for dual fuel hydrogen diesel combustion trucks.

In Budget 2024, the Government committed $30 million over three years for a Low Emissions Heavy Vehicles Fund. Further details on the Fund will be available soon.

International collaboration

New Zealand is collaborating internationally to support research and development of hydrogen technology. This includes:

• signing a Memorandum of Cooperation on hydrogen with Japan
  Memorandum of Cooperation on hydrogen with Japan(external link) — beehive.govt.nz

• signing an Arrangement of Cooperation with Singapore
  Arrangement of Cooperation with Singapore(external link) — Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade

• supporting joint research projects with Germany under the New Zealand – Germany Green Hydrogen Research programme
  New Zealand – Germany Green Hydrogen Research programme

• representing New Zealand at the Japan Hydrogen Ministerial since 2018
  Memorandum of Cooperation on hydrogen with Japan(external link) — beehive.govt.nz

• joining the new hydrogen initiative under the Clean Energy Ministerial
  The Hydrogen Initiative(external link) — the Clean Energy Ministerial

• leading work within the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) to initiate discussion on the development and implementation of an international standard for low-carbon hydrogen.
  Low-Carbon Hydrogen International Standard(external link) — APEC Project Database

• representing New Zealand in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Working Group on Demand and Supply
  Demand and Supply Potential of Hydrogen Energy in East Asia(external link) — ASEAN Potential of Hydrogen Energy in East Asia