The Hazer Group Ltd (ASX: HZR) share price is in the green on Tuesday. This follows the Australian government allocating $178 million to beef up the country's hydrogen refueling and electric vehicle charging stations.
At the time of writing, shares in the hydrogen production company are trading hands at $1.57, up about 1%. However, earlier in the day the Hazer share price reached $1.635, representing an increase of more than 5% from its previous close.
Let's take a closer look at what the latest government funding will mean for the green industry.
Chicken and the egg with hydrogen network
Making headlines, the federal government has today released its first national Future Fuels and Vehicles Strategy with an expanded $250 million worth of investments. These funds will be concentrated on four key areas as outlined by the government, these being:
- Public electric vehicle charging and hydrogen refuelling infrastructure;
- Heavy and long-distance vehicle technologies;
- Commercial fleets; and
- Household smart charging.
Overall, the federal government funding is targeted towards building out the energy network needed for low and zero-emission vehicles, rather than incentivising the adoption of these vehicles through rebates or taxes.
Furthermore, the refueling and recharging network being funded is aimed to cater to 1.7 million new-age vehicles by 2030. Investors might be interpreting this news as a positive for the Hazer share price today.
Speaking on the announced strategy, Prime Minister Scott Morrison stated:
Australians will make their own choices. We will facilitate those by putting in place the infrastructure that enables them to make those choices into the future. We're not going to put their petrol prices up to make them buy electric vehicles or anything like that, Australians will make their own choices.
The government's selected approach to lower carbon-emitting transport is aimed at driving down the cost of electric vehicles (EV) and the like.
Conversely, those that are strong proponents for EV and low-emission vehicles, such as EV Council CEO Behyad Jafari, have stated that it's not enough.
There's no sugar coating it, Future Fuels is a fizzer. If it contained fuel efficiency standards and rebates it would give Australians more choices. The best and most affordable EVs manufacturers are producing would make their way swiftly onto our market.
Hazer share price snapshot
Despite the mixed reception, the Hazer share price is erring on the side of optimism today. As a result, the small-cap hydrogen player is now up 100% year-to-date. For comparison, the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) is up only 11.4% since the beginning of the year.
Presently, shares in Hazer are approximately 16.7% away from their 52-week high of $1.885. The Hazer share price has been crawling back since October as the outlook for hydrogen improves.
