The development of a Guarantee of Origin (GO) scheme was announced as part of the National Hydrogen Strategy in November 2019. The GO scheme is part of achieving the vision for a clean, innovative, safe and competitive hydrogen industry that benefits all Australians. It will help meet the goal of becoming a major global player by 2030.

To support scheme design, the CER jointly with the Department is conducting GO trials for hydrogen as the first low emissions product.

The Department has been working domestically and internationally on the design of a Guarantee of Origin scheme. This has included leading Australia's participation in the International Partnership for Hydrogen and Fuel Cells in the Economy (IPHE) which is the leading international inter-governmental forum for developing and agreeing on emissions accounting methodologies across the hydrogen supply chain.

Consultation on initial scheme design was undertaken in 2021: A Hydrogen Guarantee of Origin scheme for Australia. The CER was funded to run the trials of a GO scheme for hydrogen to inform policy development.

The 2022-23 Budget provided the Department with $2.2 million to develop and consult on a design and draft legislation for a GO scheme. On 12 December 2022, the Department released discussion papers outlining a proposed policy design that would:

• provide a mechanism to track and verify emissions associated with hydrogen and other low emissions commodities produced in Australia
• provide an enduring certificate mechanism for renewable electricity which could support a variety of renewable energy claims.

There are two main phases to the GO trials. Phase one ran from March to July 2022.

Participation in the GO trials phase one involved taking part in trial workshops, run by the CER and supported by the Department. The workshops provided a collaborative space for stakeholders involved in hydrogen, ammonia, and related low emissions products and the relevant parts of their supply chain to discuss and co-design principles that should be considered for a successful future GO scheme.

Broader stakeholder group

In addition to the trial workshops, a second stakeholder consultation group was formed. This includes peak bodies and industry groups with an interest in the trials, international hydrogen groups, state government representatives, Australian Government agencies and project developers. This group receives reports on the discussions and progress of the trials and provides feedback on issues relating to the operation of the overall scheme.

Phase two of trial workshops run from November 2022 to April 2023. This phase tests the IPHE methodology on the production of ammonia, hydrogen carriers, and storage and transport in an Australian context.

The CER will also run an in-depth series of workshops during the trials to inform the design of a system registry and online services.

Find out more about the trial projects.