Western Australia located 2 large-scale renewable energy projects have secured Major Project Status
It comprises Murchison Green Hydrogen Project of the CIP with up to 6 GW onshore wind and solar PV capacity
bp-backed AREH will install around 26 GW of solar and wind power to produce green hydrogen/ammonia
The Federal Government of Australia has awarded major project status to the renewable energy powered green ammonia projects backed by the Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners (CIP), and multinational oil and gas giant from Britain, bp plc. Both are located in Western Australia.
This status from the government’s Major Projects Facilitation Agency (MPFA) makes these projects of national significance and contribute to economic growth and employment.
Planned for the Murchison area of Western Australia’s Mid West region, the Murchison Green Hydrogen Project of the CIP will have an annual generation capacity of up to 6 GW of green energy from onshore wind and solar PV. This will be used to produce around 2 million tons of green ammonia/year.
It will entail installation of up to 523 state-of-the-art wind turbines, and up to 7,000 hectares of solar panel arrays. This project is expected to employ more than 600 people over its expected project lifespan of 30 years. Construction is expected to last 5 years on the project that’s estimated to cost AUD 15 billion ($9.90 billion).
Supported by bp, the other project is the Australian Renewable Energy Hub (AREH). At full capacity, it will have up to 26 GW of combined solar and wind power generating capacity, developed in multiple phases. This is equivalent to producing over 90 TWh of clean energy yea which is around a 3rd of all electricity generated in Australia in 2020, according to bp.
This 26 GW will produce around 1.6 million tons of green hydrogen or 9 million tons of green ammonia/year from the 6,500 sq. km. site in the Pilbara region of Western Australia. It will be used locally as well as exported to major international users.
Renewable electricity generated is also planned to be supplied to local customers in this mining region.
Previously, the AREH project was titled Asian Renewable Energy Hub when it ran into environmental hurdles as identified by the government in June 2021. Later it was renamed as the Australian Renewable Energy Hub with bp as the majority stakeholder and remaining partners being InterContinental Energy, CWP Global, and Macquarie Group (see 26 GW Renewable Energy Project Rechristened In Australia).
According to the Australian government’s Department of Industry Science and Resources, the AREH project will cost approximately AUD 30 billion ($20 billion) and take 10 years to construct.
Recently, another large-scale solar and storage project in Australia’s Northern Territory secured principal environmental approval. The Australia-Asia Power Link project of SunCable is planned to host up to 20 GW solar PV capacity (see AAPowerLink Gets Principal Environmental Approval).