Clean Hydrogen Hub Grant Application Outcome

Key points:

• ECT has been advised that it will not receive a Federal Government Clean Hydrogen Industrial Hub program grant
• ECT’s Net Zero Emission Hydrogen Refinery project planned for Victoria’s Latrobe Valley is not contingent upon federal government grant funding
• Technology partner GrapheneX confirms support for project development and discussions are ongoing with other potential industry partners
• Commissioning of the small-scale demonstration plant at Bacchus Marsh is currently underway to drive greater partner engagement and proof of concept

Environmental Clean Technologies Limited (ASX: ECT) (“ECT” or “Company”) advises that it has received formal notification that it has not received a grant offer under the Federal Government’s Clean Hydrogen Industrial Hub grant program.

The Company previously mentioned it had applied under the program, which seeks to support Australian industry to establish hub projects in regional Australia, including a focus on reducing the cost of clean hydrogen production.

ECT Managing Director Glenn Fozard commented:

“In applying for the grant, we presented our compelling business case for a net-zero emission hydrogen refinery, which has a low projected cost per kg of hydrogen at a relatively modest scale, without the need for carbon capture and storage.

“We highlighted within our submission that while we view the project as commercially viable without a grant, and while any grant would have been welcome, it does not change our objective of delivering competitively priced hydrogen to support early market activation well before 2030, and critical mineral (battery anodic materials) and soil health (agricultural char) products.”

The Company’s planned Net-Zero Emission Hydrogen refinery takes an innovative approach to hydrogen production via a proprietary production process that utilises lignite and biomass. Building on this unique production approach is a similarly innovative downstream process that produces formic acid, a liquid organic hydrogen carrier and product in its own right. Core to delivering this hub of technologies is ECT’s partnership with technology firm GrapheneX, which is developing a range of processes around the production and utilisation of formic acid in the hydrogen supply chain.

GrapheneX Managing Director Stephen Wee commented:

“We are in no way discouraged by this news, and our commitment to working with ECT to deliver our projects will not waiver.”

The Company will provide further updates on the development of its Net Zero Emission Hydrogen Refinery project in due course.

This announcement was approved for release by the Board of the Company.

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