The proposed Western Green Energy Hub would be a Basin/District scale green hydrogen and ammonia project located near the South Australian border across the Nullarbor in Western Australia's southern Goldfields region.
The US$70 billion project would take up some 15,000 square-kilometres and would consist of up to 50GW of wind and solar generation to be built in phases along the coast.
The proponents, CWP Global, Hong Kong-based InterContinental Energy and H1 Energy said the project is backed by the Mirning People - the traditional owner, and they would have carried equity as well as a permanent board seat - describing it as the largest traditional owner-commercial partnership in Australian history.
InterContinental said the project area has wind speeds of up to 9 metres per second and around 2000 kilowatt hours per square metre of solar irradiation, adding that windy night conditions and high irradiation rates during the day could see it have a 70% delivery capacity factor.
The project proponents have secured a licence to collect data and work to develop the project feasibility on the proposed site.
The proposal was welcomed by Western Australia's regional development and hydrogen minister Alannnah MacTiernan.
"The Western Green Energy Hub is a truly massive proposal that would see WA home to one of the world's largest renewable energy projects," she said.
"Importantly, this project is a powerful collaboration between the Mirning traditional owners and industry, and would be a transformational opportunity for the community.
Supplied: InterContinental Energy.
MacTiernan highlighted the government's commitment to developing the green hydrogen industry in Western Australia, committing more than A$35 million towards its development, as she has flagged she wants to see the industry help decarbonise or eventually supersede the state's oil and gas industry.
"Right across WA we are seeing renewable hydrogen projects taking their next steps forward - from the Kimberley to Esperance," she said.
"Our state is perfectly positioned to lead the global renewable hydrogen industry, delivering a strong economic future for WA and becoming a major contributor to global decarbonisation."
The consortium's proposal comes weeks after Energy News revealed that the federal government's environment minister, Sussan Ley, knocked back its proposal for the similarly large Asian Renewable Energy Hub in the state's north, citing concerns around native wildlife and impacts on tidal movements.
The decision was met with surprise by the state government and scepticism by renewable energy and environmentalist advocates, who claimed it was further evidence that Canberra was favouring coal, oil and gas projects over renewables.
The consortium said they would resubmit their proposal following the rejection, saying they were confident it would not impact their plan to make a final investment decision on the project by 2025.
According to InterContinental, the consortium plans to make FID on the Western Green Hydrogen project by 2028.
