The Murchison Green Hydrogen project, NiWest Nickel Cobalt project and Australian Renewable Energy Hub have been awarded major project status.
Projects awarded major project status are of national significance and will contribute to economic growth and employment.
The Murchison Green Hydrogen project is a large-scale wind, solar, hydrogen and ammonia plant that will cost an estimated $15 billion.
The project aims to generate 6 gigawatts of renewable energy each year and to produce around 2 million tonnes of green ammonia.
Construction will take 5 years and create nearly 2,500 jobs and over the expected project lifespan of 30 years it will employ over 600 people.
The Australian Renewable Energy Hub consists of 2 sites:
- a hydrogen processing facility capable of producing around 1.6 million tonnes of hydrogen and 9 million tonnes of green ammonia each year; and;
- a 6,500 square kilometre solar array and wind farm expected to produce up to 26 giga watts of combined solar and wind power each year.
The project will cost approximately $53.6 billion with construction taking 10 years and creating 5,000 jobs.
Once operational, it will employ up to 3,000 people.
The NiWest Nickel Cobalt project aims to produce 90,000 tonnes of nickel sulphate and 6,800 tonnes of cobalt sulphate.
Critical minerals like nickel sulphate and cobalt sulphate are vital for manufacturing future technologies.
The estimated project cost is $1.26 billion. Construction will take 10 years and create 600 jobs. Once complete, it will employ over 400 people during the project’s 50 year lifespan.