Australia has conferred "major project status" to the Australian Renewable Energy Hub (AREH), a planned $20 billion renewable energy-cum-green-hydrogen development in Western Australia, as well as two other projects in the green hydrogen and critical minerals space.
The projects are of "national significance and will contribute to economic growth and employment," the government said in its announcement. The decision will accord them extra support in navigating regulatory clearances through the Major Projects Facilitation Agency (MPFA), the Australian government's entry point for assisting project proponents with projects over $20 million.
The AREH project involves the deployment of 26 GW of solar-cum-wind generation capacities across 6,500 square km in Western Australia, which will power an estimated 14 GW of electrolyzers. These in turn will produce 1.6 million tonnes of green hydrogen and nine million tonnes of green ammonia a year for domestic consumption and exports.
Additionally, the government also conferred major project status on the Murchison green hydrogen development and the NiWest nickel cobalt project.
The Murchison green hydrogen development involves setting up a large-scale wind, solar, hydrogen and ammonia plant at an investment of ~$10 billion. The project aims to generate 6 GW of renewable energy and ~2 million tonnes of green ammonia a year, and has a lifespan of 30 years.
The NiWest, smaller by comparison to the other two, involves an investment of sub-$1 billion to produce 90,000 tonnes of nickel sulphate and 6,800 tonnes of cobalt sulphate, critical minerals that are vital for manufacturing in future technologies. The project has a lifespan of 50 years.