CCBR Business Review

11 Breakthrough energy firmmoves to Coast IT WAS ONE of CCBR’s first articles of the year. A new sign on the site of the former Krone factory on the corner of Enterprise Drive – “Star Scientific” had been erected. Intrigued, Central Coast Business Review tracked down Group Chairman Andrew Horvath for an exclusive interview. A family-owned business, Star Scientific is a research and development company that has been investigating nuclear physics for over 30 years, in the area of Muon cata- lysed fusion. As a spin-off of to this R&D they have discovered and developed a breakthrough catalyst for converting hydrogen into heat without combustion – the Hydrogen Energy Release Optimiser, or “HERO®”. In layperson’s terms, HERO® is a coating, that when affixed to a backing material and introduced to hydrogen and oxygen in a closed environment, “glows”. It quickly generates massive heat and the only out- put is pure water, which can be re-used in the process. The test units generate over 700 degrees Celsius within about 3 minutes and have produced industrial steam on a small scale. As Andrew Horvath explains it, “we are now in the process of scaling the test units up, to prove HERO®’s applicability for indus- trial processes such as electricity generation and desalination. Sitting in the Berkeley Vale facility is a purpose-built 1.5-megawatt turbine from Siemens, which we hope to have spinning by the end of this year, pow- ered by hydrogen via the HERO® catalyst.” Obviously, the prospect of industrial-scale heat generated without combustion has captured global attention. Mr Horvath said, “we are in constant conversation with governments, corpora- tions, investors and energy NGOs across the globe, but with particular interest from the United States, Europe, Japan and Korea. The prospect of extending the life of major capital assets such as power stations and electricity distribution infrastructure has stakeholders most enthusiastic.” The development of HERO® will, however, not be without its challenges. “The biggest challenge we will face is the supply of green hydrogen as HERO® is taken up by industry. From our perspective there are not enough solar farms or wind farms in Australia, not by a long shot, and global competition to supply hydrogen will be fierce. It is good to see, therefore, the Federal Government taking the bull by the horns via Chief Scientist Alan Finkel’s national hydrogen strategy.” Commenting on how this potential global revolution in green energy comes to be located here on the Central Coast Mr Horvath said, “We’ve always had a strong presence in the region. Our first facility was on the Coast before we moved to Newcastle. However, the discovery of HERO® and the need to rap- idly scale up meant we needed a larger facil- ity and we just couldn’t find the right space in the Hunter. Then the Berkeley Vale facility came up and it was almost perfect – having said that we have already spent $2 million on it and will probably spend about $5 mil- lion before it is right. It will house some of the most sophisticated scientific instrumen- tation on the globe.” Meanwhile Star Scientific has won the 2020 Global Energy Awards’ Emerging Technology of the Year. Andrew Horvath, Global Group Chairman, Star Scientific Limited said this was a proud moment for the entire team at Star Scientific Limited who have worked passionately to develop HERO® to what it is today. Mr Horvath said, “we were chosen as finalists from some 300 entries from over 36 countries, acknowledged for ingenu- ity and commercialisation potential. The award recognises that HERO® has created its own category in the energy sector, primed to address a gap that will signifi- cantly change global hydrogen use. M A J O R S T O R I E S O F 2 0 2 0 Trusted to deliver. • Level 1 & 2 Accredited Service Provider • High & Low Voltage Infrastructure • MSB and Electrical Contracting Services sales@syscon.net.au www.syscon.net.au Connect with us: 02 4355 1716 Andrew Horvath CENTRAL COAST BUSINESS REVIEW YEARBOOK 2020