Another tentative solar supply deal for controversial NT gas hub

Renewable energy deals for the Middle Arm gas hub in the Northern Territory are few, but the industrial park has claimed another tentative supply arrangement.

The territory government signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Indigenous-owned Larrakia Energy and Korea Midland Power Co to work on the industrial precinct’s Green Energy Project.

The two year agreement is to co-operate to “achieve” the Green Energy Project. 

The project itself includes scoping, building and operating 300 megawatts (MW) of solar power on land next to the Middle Arm site. 

Further detail about what the government and companies agreed to in the MoU, or what outcomes they’re trying to achieve, isn’t available, and neither the companies nor government returned requests for comment before publication.

Territory infrastructure, planning and logistic minister Eva Lawler said in a statement that the latest MoU “has the potential to create thousands of jobs and increase our sustainable energy production for countless years to come”.

Sun Cable competitor

The Green Energy Project is going up against another tentative supply deal for Middle Arm, signed by Sun Cable with ASX-listed resources company Tivan in April.

They signed a one year non-binding letter of intent to move forward on commercial and technical discussions on a potential offtake of 200-300 MW of renewable electricity from the AAPowerLink transmission project.

Sun Cable, which has just come out of a brutal shareholder battle between billionaires Andrew Forrest and Mike Cannon-Brookes of which the latter emerged the winner, plans to build its 17-20 gigawatts (GW) of solar 800km south of Darwin, however.

It must also build out all of that transmission line to get its power to the Middle Arm site.

The last significant planning milestone the company reached was in December 2022, when it lodged a Supplement to the Environmental Impact Statement (SEIS) with the Northern Territory Environment Protection Authority for AAPowerlink. 

The Middle Arm precinct currently houses the Santos and Ichthys LNG export terminals. 

The government claims it will be a renewable energy-powered site dedicated to a circular economy approach. 

However, in June the government also awarded land to Beetaloo Basin gas company Tamboran Resources, which plans to use it to build its own LNG export plant. 

Other awardees were Total Eran and Fortescue Future Industries, both of which want to set up green hydrogen manufacturing there, Tivan which proposes to make vanadium oxides, and Avenira which wants to make precursor battery cathode materials.