Solar and wind power to enable green hydrogen and green ammonia production
Key Takeaways
- InterContinental Energy, CWP Global and MGEL have expanded the proposed capacity of WGEH by 20 GW
- The 70 GW proposed project in Western Australia is expected to generate over 200 TWh of renewable energy on completion
- It will comprise around 35 solar farms, and up to 3,000 wind turbines to help generate green hydrogen and ammonia
Australia is fast advancing super large-scale renewable energy projects. The Western Green Energy Hub (WGEH) is one such project with InterContinental Energy, CWP Global and Mirning Green Energy Limited (MGEL) proposing to install around 70 GW of wind and solar PV capacity in Western Australia.
This capacity represents an increase of 20 GW over the 50 GW the trio had originally proposed for WGEH in July 2021, according to the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) (see 50 GW Hybrid Wind & Solar Power For Green Fuels).
WGEH entered a joint development agreement with the Korea Electric Power Corporation in July last year.
Project partners propose to install the project on Unallocated Crown Land and pastoral leases with around 35 solar PV farms and related infrastructure, and up to 3,000 wind turbines approximately 1.5 km to 2.5 km apart.
This capacity is aimed to generate up to 4 million tons of renewables-based hydrogen production/annum at full capacity, and ammonia production of approximately 22 million tons/annum.
“Presently, renewables-based ammonia production is the base case hydrogen vector; this is to be further investigated and optimised during the development stages of the project,” according to CSIRO. “The full-scale proposal would be implemented within a development envelope approximately 22,690 square kilometres in size and may generate over 200 TWh of renewable energy, dependent on the mix and size of wind and solar capacities.”
This capacity will be developed in stages over a possible construction period of 30 years. Around 6 GW of hybrid wind and solar power is planned under stage 1 to produce up to 330,000 tons/annum of renewables-based hydrogen.
A proposal for the project was submitted to the Western Australian Environmental Protection Authority (WAEPA) in November 2024 which was open for public consultation for a period of 7 days.
Apart from WGEH, the other super large-scale renewable energy projects planned in Australia include the 26 GW Australian Renewable Energy Hub (AREH) to produce 1.6 million tons of green hydrogen or 9 million tons of green ammonia/year (see Australia’s Major Project Status To Accelerate 32 GW RE Capacity Installation).
SunCable’s Australia-Asia Power Link project was among the initial projects of a large-scale announced in the country with its up to 20 GW solar and 42 GWh battery storage capacity. It has now secured environmental clearance from the federal government (see Environmental Clearance For World’s Largest Planned Solar & Storage Project).
Source from Taiyang News
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