Hydrogen fuel cells trialled in Victorian mobile towers in bid to avoid isolation during emergencies

When a savage storm took out the phone network in Doug Parke's Gippsland town in February, he says the outside world had little understanding of how badly it was hit.

"Being able to get hold of family and friends and just tell people that you're okay, for many people in Mirboo North, that was just literally not possible," Mr Parke said.

The February 13 storm damaged dozens of homes across Gippsland and left thousands of homes without power, with some waiting extended periods for electricity to be restored.

Mr Parke owns Strathmore Farm B&B in Mirboo North, east of Melbourne, and said he and his guests relied on satellite network Starlink while Telstra was unable to access the local tower due to fallen trees.

He said mobile coverage was something people took for granted until it was gone.

"Then you realise that was your backup plan … and now you have nothing," Mr Parke said.

Longer-life battery trial

Another community in west Gippsland that has experienced severe storms relies on the Neerim North phone tower in emergencies.

When power is lost in an emergency, mobile towers rely on batteries which do not have the capacity to keep the towers operational during long emergencies.

The state government has announced the Neerim North mobile network as one of five sites in Victoria with a new source of backup power.

Those in range of the tower will still be able to make phone calls when the power goes out thanks to a hydrogen fuel cell, which powers the system for 72 hours.

The state government has funded a $1.1 million trial project with Telstra and Energys Australia, with the other sites being Coldstream, Kinglake, Christmas Hills and Chum Creek.

Victorian Energy and Resources Minister Lily D'Ambrosio said extreme weather events and prolonged power outages were becoming more common in Victoria, and powering phone networks could give communities greater resilience.

"We know that being able to communicate is really critical — we're all now much more reliant on telecommunications to do the ordinary things of life," Ms D'Ambrosio said.

Local manufacturing link

Energys Australia manufactured the fuel cells at a Mulgrave factory, and the company said it was sourcing green hydrogen from within Victoria for the project.

The company's managing director Roger Knight said it was classed as green hydrogen because the energy required to create the hydrogen came from renewable sources.

"When you pull the water apart to create the hydrogen, it comes from a renewable source," he said.

"One of the benefits of fuel cells and technology like this is there are no moving parts, so there's very little long-term maintenance."

Mr Knight said if power remained down after 72 hours, a truck would need to be able to access the tower to "hot swap" more gas into the fuel cell and keep the phone tower running.

Telstra integrated network facilities and environment executive Vicki Romanovski said the fuel cells produced zero emissions.

Ms Romanovski said Telstra chose the five sites as they were affected by storms, but also had ease of access to the tower.

She said at the end of the three-year trial, Telstra would assess whether it could equip more communities with a hydrogen fuel cell.