The Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) of Western Australia is soliciting a public review of its Environmental Review Document for the proposed 11 GW strong Asian Renewable Energy Hub (Asian RE Hub) in Pilbara. Basis feedback received, the EPA will prepare an assessment report to make recommendations on the proposal to the Minister for Environment.
The hub is proposed to come up at a site approximately 220 km east of Port Hedland and 270 km southwest of Broome in the northwest of Western Australia. It is planned to comprise 1,743 wind turbines and 2 GW of solar PV capacity that will be divided into 37×55 MW sub-projects. Both wind turbines and solar panels will share step-up transformers and other infrastructure to reduce potential environmental impacts, according to the document. A high Voltage Direct Current (HVDC) convertor station will also be a part of the project.
Previously, the Asian RE Hub was said to have more than 3.5 GW of solar PV arrays and over 7.5 GW of wind turbines. Out of the 40 TWh of competitively priced clean energy generation annually, 20 TWh was suggested to be exported overseas to Jakarta and Singapore.
The project has been proposed by a consortium called NW Interconnected Power Pty Ltd (NWIP) comprising InterContinental Energy (ICE) that founded Asian RE Hub and the Middle East RE Hub, along with Australian renewable energy developer CWP Energy Asia (CWP), wind turbine manufacturer Vestas and global investment banking and diversified financial services group Macquarie that joined the consortium in 2018 (see Macquarie Joins $22bn Australian 11 GW RE Project).
Once all regulatory approvals are in and financing closed, construction is scheduled to commence in 2023-24.
The document is available for public review for a period of 6 weeks from May 13, 2019 to June 24, 2019. Details are available on the website of Asian Renewable Energy Hub.