Thursday, 13 August 2026

 David LIMBRICK (South-Eastern Metropolitan) (12:26): (1418) My question is for the minister for energy. The Hydrogen Energy Supply Chain is a visionary energy project proposed by the Japanese consortium of J-POWER and Sumitomo Corporation. It leverages the unique advantages in Victoria of large brown coal deposits, an empty gas well and proximity to a port to propose a system that uses the otherwise stranded resource of Victorian brown coal to produce hydrogen and capture and store the carbon emissions. The production and export process has been through a pilot and testing phase, which was successful. The very first sea transport of hydrogen at scale in the world came from Victoria to Kobe, Japan, via the ship Suiso Frontier. Unfortunately, this project seems to have stalled, and I fear the Victorian government is to blame. My question is: what is the new energy minister doing to progress this huge opportunity for Victoria?

 Jaclyn SYMES (Northern Victoria – Minister for Energy and Resources, Minister for Environment, Minister for Climate Action, Minister for the State Electricity Commission) (12:27): I thank Mr Limbrick for his question about the HESC project. I am familiar with the project from my former time as minister for resources, and indeed I did visit the site and met with J-POWER in relation to the proposal and the pilot, and obviously I am back in the portfolio now so it is my intention to be briefed in greater detail about the pilot. But my advice is that the pilot process did have some successes. It certainly injected a lot of economic activity into the Gippsland region. There was millions of dollars of investment that created hundreds of jobs, and it did establish Victoria as an emerging player in this multitrillion-dollar industry. I am advised that the project partners are currently considering the information that was obtained from that extensive pilot and are continuing to undertake further assessments which balance domestic and international policy as well as market settings and the commercial viability of next steps. As you would expect, the Victorian government is also undertaking its due diligence, which is what I have not yet been briefed on in great detail. But obviously the questions that I would be asking are around whether any future stages of the project would be feasible. We also have to consider issues such as water, energy and emissions policies in balancing the economic benefits to the state and the people of Gippsland. One of the issues that constantly comes up in relation to this project is carbon storage, and there are a lot of things to consider in relation to that policy and how it might play out for the future of such industry.

 David LIMBRICK (South-Eastern Metropolitan) (12:29): I thank the minister for her answer. My understanding is that hydrogen production is a very high priority for Japan. Despite many successful Japanese investments in Victoria, there have also been some large-scale failures recently, such as the paper mill. It is vital for Victoria to maintain investor confidence for foreign investors, including Japan. Has the minister met with the consortium recently or does the minister plan to meet with the consortium soon to discuss this project?

 Jaclyn SYMES (Northern Victoria – Minister for Energy and Resources, Minister for Environment, Minister for Climate Action, Minister for the State Electricity Commission) (12:29): As I said in my answer to your substantive question, Mr Limbrick, I have met previously, not in recent times – when I last had the portfolio of resources I did meet with proponents of this and indeed partners that were involved. I do not even know if they are the same individuals now. I have not received an invitation directly from them. There are a lot of invites that have come into my inbox in the last week, as you would appreciate. I am endeavouring to work through those and meet as many people in the industry as possible. When it comes to creating jobs in regional Victoria and indeed creating commercial opportunities for regional Victoria, regardless of what portfolio I am in that has always been a high priority of mine. If indeed there is opportunity to attract more investment into regional Victoria and create jobs, I always try to do my best to meet with those people.