Hydrogen and minerals investment granted major project status

Minister for Industry and Science Ed Husic has awarded major project status to the Murchison Green Hydrogen project, NiWest Nickel Cobalt project and Australian Renewable Energy Hub.

These projects receive extra support from the Commonwealth Government navigating the approvals process in recognizing their national significance.

The Murchison Green Hydrogen project is a large-scale wind, solar, hydrogen and ammonia plant. It aims to generate 6 gigawatts of renewable energy each year and produce around 2 million tonnes of green ammonia.

Construction will take five years, cost about $15 billion and employ nearly 2,500 people. Over the expected project lifespan of 30 years, it will employ over 600 people.

NiWest is a $1.26 billion project that aims to produce high-purity nickel and cobalt sulfate in the West Australian nickel belt. Once operational, it is expected to produce 90,000 tonnes of nickel sulphate and 6,800 tonnes of cobalt sulphate a year for electric vehicle batteries.

Construction is expected to take 10 years and employ 600 people. It will employ over 400 people during the project’s 50-year lifespan.

Australian Renewable Energy Hub is a $53.6 billion large-scale renewable energy and hydrogen project. The hydrogen facility will be capable of producing around 1.6 million tonnes of hydrogen and 9 million tonnes of green ammonia each year. Their 6,500 square-kilometer solar array and wind farm are expected to produce up to 26 gigawatts of combined solar and wind power each year.

Construction will take 10 years and employ 5,000 people. Once operational, it is expected to employ up to 3,000 people.

The addition of these to the major projects list brings the total number to 14 — eight critical minerals projects, five renewable energy projects and one gas project.

The addition of two more hydrogen projects comes amid uncertainty about the hydrogen’s place in the global energy mix. All three of the newly added projects align with other government policies, like Future Made In Australia and the Critical Minerals Strategy.

Projects that invest over $50 million are eligible to be declared major projects if they are strategically significant, face a complex regulatory and approvals process and are commercially viable.

READ MORE:

Critical minerals receive multi-million dollar support under Future Made in Australia policy