TROY BELL MP
Member for Mount Gambier
Your Independent voice
in State Parliament
Hydrogen plant praise
Tuesday June 06, 2023Member for Mount Gambier Troy Bell is another believer in the use of such new energy resources as hydrogen to power plants like the KCA Millicent Mill.
The company itself has been undertaking feasibility studies in recent years to this end.
Mr Bell recently told State Parliament that he has a great affiliation for the Upper Spencer Gulf, having taught in Port Augusta for five years.
“I can see the impact that $300m for a hydrogen plant will make on that community and the benefits to the wider community,” Mr Bell said.
“I genuinely hope and believe that it will be successful, and I would like to use it as a template for what can be done in the South East.
“The South East has most of the key elements needed for hydrogen production.
“We have an abundance of water; we have an abundance of wind and wind-generated power.
“If you put those two things together – hydrogen is, in very simplistic terms, putting electricity through water – we have the key elements in spades.
“The other thing that we have in the South East are major offtake users, such as Kimberly-Clark, which manufactures paper products, most notably toilet paper.
“During the pandemic, we could see how important that was to the lives of many people.
“There is also a great opportunity just over the border in Portland, which has Alcoa, an aluminium smelter that would take every bit of electricity that could be generated in a plant based in South Australia selling green energy to Victoria, into Alcoa.
“I am very supportive of the hydrogen project.
“I want to see it succeed and the future opportunities that might arise for our community around hydrogen, because we have all the key elements to prove its success.”