South Australia's Office for Hydrogen Power spent more than $280 million before the state government scrapped the agency amid the failure of its Whyalla hydrogen project.

But the government says it will be able to recoup much of the cost by selling the generators it purchased for the shelved hydrogen plant.

The Malinauskas government had allocated $593 million to build a hydrogen power plant in Whyalla, setting up an Office for Hydrogen Power in May 2022 to deliver on its pre-election hydrogen promises.

But the hydrogen project was effectively cancelled in February 2025 after months of speculation about a cost blowout as the private sector pulled out of green hydrogen projects across Australia.

The government said it diverted the money for the hydrogen project to support its takeo

See Full Page