The Australian government plans to accelerate the planning procedures for a proposed 15,000MW wind and solar project, which plans to produce hydrogen and ammonia for export to the Asia-Pacific region. The project in the Pilbara region of Western Australia is targeted to expand to 26,000MW, making it the largest of its kind in the world.
The proposed Asian Renewable Energy Hub (AREH) was granted major project status by Canberra, which is keen to support the development of a hydrogen export industry. "Not only will the plant be able to export at scale, it will also be able to supply industries in the region while creating new job opportunities and economic growth," Australian industry minister Karen Andrews said.
AREH will also supply 3,000MW of power generated from the project to the domestic mining sector, which is expected to be the iron ore miners in the Pilbara, many of whom have pledged to lower emissions.
The move by Canberra follows the Western Australia state government's approval of the project last week.
The 15,000MW project is the first stage of the proposed AREH, with a further expansion to 26,000MW of hybrid wind and solar to power electrolysers for the production of green hydrogen and green ammonia at export scale, AREH project director Brendan Hammond said.
The AREH consortium includes Danish wind turbine manufacturer Vestas, Australian private-sector energy firm CWP Renewables and Hong Kong-based energy firm InterContinental Energy.
"The falling cost of wind and solar has made it possible for the development of hydrogen and green ammonia export projects at scale," InterContinental Energy managing director Alex Tancock told Argus. The future demand of green hydrogen is coming from the shipping sector, as well as resource extraction and chemical industries with demand expected to come on line after 2025, Tancock said.
The AREH project partners plan to make a final investment decision (FID) on the venture by 2025 and intends to sign supply agreements with consumers before the FID, he said. The project originally planned to construct a cable to export electricity generated from the wind and solar plants to Indonesia, but it is now focused on exporting green hydrogen and ammonia.
