Australian Renewable Energy Hub

Last updated

The Australian Renewable Energy Hub, formerly Asian Renewable Energy Hub (AREH), is a proposal to create one of the world's largest renewable energy plants in the Pilbara region of Western Australia. After several revisions of the original project concept, in January 2023 the Government of Western Australia approved a revised set of seven projects, totalling 26 GW of wind and solar capacity that would be used to produce green hydrogen, to be exported by converting it to ammonia.

Contents

History

The Asian Renewable Energy Hub was first proposed in 2014, with plans for the project concept changing several times since then. The project initially aimed to supply power via an undersea power cable (to Indonesia and perhaps on to Singapore [1] ) with a capacity of 15GW, [2] using four cables, each 3,000 km (1,900 mi) long. [1] However, having explored the potential of exporting green hydrogen via the manufacture of ammonia, it was able to aim for an extra 11GW. The Government of Western Australia gave environmental approval for phase one of the project (15,000MW of power generation, across 6,500 km2 (2,500 sq mi) in October 2020. [2]

Given the status of "major project" by the federal government in October 2020, [3] the proposed development of the plant enables the goals set under the Western Australian Renewable Hydrogen Strategy to be brought forward from 2040 to 2030. [4]

After a revised proposal was submitted to the Australian Government, in June 2021 Minister for the Environment Sussan Ley ruled this plan unacceptable owing to its potential impact on threatened migratory species and internationally significant wetlands in the area. Eighty Mile Beach is a RAMSAR listed site which provides habitat for several threatened species of migratory birds and a large population of waterbirds, which would be disrupted by the marine components of the project, which would affect tidal movements. The consortium continue to work on the environmental impact plans and mitigation measures.[ citation needed ]

as of June 2022, the project developers BP, [5] Intercontinental Energy, CWP Global, Vestas, and Pathway Investments were planning to build a mixture of wind power and solar energy power generators which would generate up to 26 gigawatts of power. [1]

In January 2023, Western Australia approved a land allocation for a revised set of seven projects, renamed the Australian Renewable Energy Hub, which total 26 GW of wind and solar capacity that would be used to produce hydrogen and ammonia. BP bought a 40.5% stake in the project in 2022. [6]

Location and description

Located in the Pilbara region of Western Australia, up to 1,743 wind turbines of 290 metres (950 ft) in height would be accommodated in 668,100 hectares (1,651,000 acres) of land, and 18 arrays of solar panels each generating 600 megawatts would cover 1,418 hectares (3,500 acres). [1] It is to be located in the Shire of East Pilbara, about 30 km (19 mi) inland from 80 Mile Beach, with the nearest settlement on the map being Mandora Station. [4] The total size of the scheme would be about 666,030 ha (1,645,800 acres). [7]

The plant would use the electricity generated by the wind turbines and solar power to extract hydrogen from water. The hydrogen is then mixed with nitrogen extracted from the air to produce ammonia. The ammonia is easily transported using tankers, and opens up the possibility for more markets around the world. [1]

For the ten years of project construction, the project is expected to create 5,000 jobs, with about 3,000 ongoing jobs anticipated over its 50-year lifetime. [2] It is planned to create a coastal town campus between Port Hedland and Broome, and a desalination plants will provide most of the water supply needed for both human consumption and plant cooling purposes. [1]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Grid energy storage</span> Large scale electricity supply management

Grid energy storage is a collection of methods used for energy storage on a large scale within an electrical power grid. Electrical energy is stored during times when electricity is plentiful and inexpensive or when demand is low, and later returned to the grid when demand is high, and electricity prices tend to be higher.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Iberdrola</span> Spanish multinational electric utility monopoly

Iberdrola is a Spanish multinational electric utility company based in Bilbao, Spain. Iberdrola has a workforce of around 40,000 employees serving around 30 million customers. Subsidiaries include ScottishPower and a significant part of Avangrid, amongst others. As of 2023, the largest shareholder of the company is the Qatar Investment Authority, with BlackRock and Norges Bank also holding significant interests.

The energy policy of India is to increase the locally produced energy in India and reduce energy poverty, with more focus on developing alternative sources of energy, particularly nuclear, solar and wind energy. Net energy import dependency was 40.9% in 2021-22.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Solar power in Australia</span>

Solar power is a major contributor to electricity supply in Australia. As of December 2023, Australia's over 3.69 million solar PV installations had a combined capacity of 34.2 GW photovoltaic (PV) solar power. In 2019, 59 solar PV projects with a combined capacity of 2,881 MW were either under construction, constructed or due to start construction having reached financial closure. Solar accounted for 12.4% of Australia's total electrical energy production in 2021.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Renewable energy in Scotland</span>

The production of renewable energy in Scotland is a topic that came to the fore in technical, economic, and political terms during the opening years of the 21st century. The natural resource base for renewable energy is high by European, and even global standards, with the most important potential sources being wind, wave, and tide. Renewables generate almost all of Scotland's electricity, mostly from the country's wind power.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Solar power in Spain</span>

Spain is one of the first countries to deploy large-scale solar photovoltaics, and is the world leader in concentrated solar power (CSP) production.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Renewable energy in Australia</span>

Renewable energy in Australia is mainly based on biomass, solar, wind, and hydro generation. Over a third of electricity is generated from renewables, and is increasing, with a target to phase out coal power before 2040. Wind energy and rooftop solar have particularly grown since 2010. The growth has been stimulated by government energy policy in order to limit the rate of climate change in Australia that has been brought about by the use of fossil fuels. Pros and cons of various types of renewable energy are being investigated, and more recently there have been trials of green hydrogen and wave power.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Renewable energy in the United States</span>

According to data from the US Energy Information Administration, renewable energy accounted for 8.4% of total primary energy production and 21% of total utility-scale electricity generation in the United States in 2022.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Renewable energy in China</span>

China is the world's leader in electricity production from renewable energy sources, with over triple the generation of the second-ranking country, the United States. China's renewable energy sector is growing faster than its fossil fuels and nuclear power capacity, and is expected to contribute 43% of global renewable capacity growth. China's total renewable energy capacity exceeded 1,000 GW in 2021, accounting for 43.5 per cent of the country's total power generation capacity, 10.2 percentage points higher than in 2015. The country aims to have 80 per cent of its total energy mix come from non-fossil fuel sources by 2060, and achieve a combined 1,200 GW of solar and wind capacity by 2030. In 2023, it was reported that China was on track to reach 1,371 gigawatts of wind and solar by 2025, five years ahead of target due to new renewables installations breaking records. China's carbon emissions are now expected to decrease in 2024, years ahead of the target of peak emissions by 2030.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wind power in China</span> Overview of wind power in China

China is the world leader in wind power generation, with the largest installed capacity of any nation and continued rapid growth in new wind facilities. With its large land mass and long coastline, China has exceptional wind power resources: Wind power remained China's third-largest source of electricity at the end of 2021, accounting for 7.5% of total power generation.

DESERTEC is a non-profit foundation that focuses on the production of renewable energy in desert regions The project aims to create a global renewable energy plan based on the concept of harnessing sustainable powers, from sites where renewable sources of energy are more abundant, and transferring it through high-voltage direct current transmission to consumption centers. The foundation also works on concepts involving green hydrogen. Multiple types of renewable energy sources are envisioned, but their plan is centered around the natural climate of the deserts.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Renewable energy in Morocco</span>

As of 2019, renewable energy in Morocco covered 35% of the country’s electricity needs.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Enel Green Power</span>

Enel Green Power S.p.A. is an Italian multinational renewable energy corporation, headquartered in Rome. The company was formed as a subsidiary of the power generation firm Enel in December 2008. It has operations in five continents generating energy from solar, geothermal, wind and hydropower sources. As of 2022, it manages a capacity of 60,9 GW and has over 1200 plants worldwide.

Renewable energy in Russia mainly consists of hydroelectric energy. Russia is rich not only in oil, gas and coal, but also in wind, hydro, geothermal, biomass and solar energy – the resources of renewable energy. Practically all regions have at least one or two forms of renewable energy that are commercially exploitable, while some regions are rich in all forms of renewable energy resources. However, fossil fuels dominate Russia’s current energy mix, while its abundant and diverse renewable energy resources play little role.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Energy in Indonesia</span> Overview of the production, consumption, import and export of energy and electricity in Indonesia

In 2019, the total energy production in Indonesia is 450.79 tonnes of oil equivalent, with a total primary energy supply of 231.14 tonnes of oil equivalent and electricity final consumption of 263.32 terawatt-hours. From 2000 to 2021, Indonesia's total energy supply increased by nearly 60%.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Renewable energy in Turkey</span>

Renewables supply a quarter of energy in Turkey, including heat and electricity. Some houses have rooftop solar water heating, and hot water from underground warms many spas and greenhouses. In parts of the west hot rocks are shallow enough to generate electricity as well as heat. Wind turbines, also mainly near western cities and industry, generate a tenth of Turkey’s electricity. Hydropower, mostly from dams in the east, is the only modern renewable energy which is fully exploited. Hydropower averages about a fifth of the country's electricity, but much less in drought years. Apart from wind and hydro, other renewables; such as geothermal, solar and biogas; together generated almost a tenth of Turkey’s electricity in 2022. Türkiye has ranked 5th in Europe and 12th in the world in terms of installed capacity in renewable energy. The share of renewables in Türkiye’s installed power reached to 54% at the end of 2022.

Green hydrogen (GH2 or GH2) is hydrogen produced by the electrolysis of water, using renewable electricity. Production of green hydrogen causes significantly lower greenhouse gas emissions than production of grey hydrogen, which is derived from fossil fuels without carbon capture.

The Australia–Asia Power Link (AAPowerLink) is a proposed electricity infrastructure project that is planned to include the world's largest solar plant, the world's largest battery, and the world's longest submarine power cable.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Collins, Ben (10 November 2020). "World's largest renewable energy project proposed for north-west Australia ditches electricity in favour of ammonia exports". ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation). Retrieved 12 November 2020.
  2. 1 2 3 "Massive Asian Renewable Energy Hub grows to 26GW of wind and solar". RenewEconomy. 16 October 2020. Retrieved 12 November 2020.
  3. ↑ Fowler, Elouise (22 October 2020). "Renewable energy hub to get 'major project' status". Australian Financial Review . Retrieved 12 November 2020.
  4. 1 2 Beattie, Shannon (2 November 2020). "Clean energy for the future". Farm Weekly . Retrieved 12 November 2020.
  5. ↑ Singh, Ruchira (15 June 2022). "UK's BP to acquire 40.5% stake in Australia's 26 GW Asian Renewable Energy Hub". www.spglobal.com.
  6. ↑ "WA land allocation advances plans for 26 GW renewable energy hub". pv magazine Australia. 9 January 2023. Retrieved 11 August 2023.
  7. ↑ Morton, Adam (21 June 2021). "Environment minister rules huge renewable energy hub in WA 'clearly unacceptable'". The Guardian . Retrieved 16 July 2021.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.