Fewer, bigger turbines proposed as huge green hydrogen project wins first federal head-start funding

Plans to install up to 6 gigawatts of onshore wind and solar and produce 2 million tonnes of green ammonia a year near Kalbarri in Western Australia has been named as the first winner of the federal government’s Hydrogen Headstart program after a successful nip and tuck on its project design.

The Murchison Green Hydrogen project, a development owned by Danish giant Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners, has also had the all-clear to make a number of changes to its design before undergoing assessment for federal environmental approval.

These include the decision to use fewer but more powerful turbines and to trim the solar footprint while boosting PV output. The changes will slightly increase its overall footprint, while decreasing its disturbance footprint, or ecosystem impact.

The changes have been followed by the news on Thursday confirming that the first 1,500 megawatt (MW) stage of the Murchison Green Hydrogen (MGH) project has been awarded up to $814 million in production incentives from the federal government’s Hydrogen Headstart program.

The funding, announced by federal energy minister Chris Bowen, will be paid via the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (Arena) at production milestones over 10 years to help accelerate the project’s development. Stage one is expected to produce 900,000 tonnes of green ammonia each year.

Bowen says the funding scheme aims to help projects like Murchison to bridge the commercial gap between the cost of producing renewable hydrogen and the market price.

The Murchison renewables and hydrogen project is located 20km north of Kalbarri – identified as one of the best locations in the world for green hydrogen production, due to wind and solar resources, limited cyclone risk and proximity to key offtake markets.

The original plans for the project, which joined the EPBC queue in May 2022, proposed to install around 700 wind turbines with an estimated 3.7 gigawatts (GW) installed capacity and roughly 1.5 GW of solar over an area of around 10,000 hectares of solar panels.

Other components of the originally proposed project include battery storage, a desalination plant with seawater intake and brine discharge pipes, an electrolyser, hydrogen storage, an ammonia production plant and storage tanks and a marine export terminal.

The move to adjust the design of the project to reduce its impact on protected flora and fauna and ecosystems follows the federal environment minister’s determination in July 2022 that the project is a “controlled action” and therefore required to undergo full assessments under the federal EPBC Act.

Chief among the changes being proposed is to cut turbine numbers by 178 to a total of 522, while maintaining the installed capacity at the originally proposed ~3.7 GW. This suggests the revised turbines would have a capacity of around 7 megawatts (MW) each, up from around 5 MW in the original proposal.

This is in keeping with the evolution of wind turbines over the past few years, which has seen them ratchet up in size and capacity – giving developers wriggle room on project design without compromising generation capacity.

But while bigger turbines can mean fewer turbines – and can therefore appease some community and environmental concerns – bigger turbines are, of course, much more imposing and occupy bigger individual footprints than their smaller counterparts.

In the case of the Murchison project, the permanent footprint of each turbine in the revised proposal will be approximately 0.9 hectares (ha), with a total final footprint of 470 ha for all turbines (formerly 0.2 ha, 140 ha).

But the developer notes that while the permanent impact from the wind turbine component has increased, the total terrestrial clearing footprint has decreased.

“Each wind turbine location is proposed to be micro-sited to avoid direct impacts to MNES [matters of national environmental significance], including Malleefowl mounds and Threatened flora,” the referral says.

“This approach will ensure that impacts are minimised and the increase in clearing footprint will not increase the potential impacts to MNES. There is not expected to be significant change to MNES impacts as a result of this change.”

Source: Murchison Hydrogen Renewables

For the solar farm, meanwhile, the footprint has been revised to up to 7,000 ha; a reduction of 3,000 ha. The referral documents say this has been achieved through “layout optimisation, enabling an increased solar energy output from a reduced footprint” – and resulting in a reduction in clearing.

The Murchison project was awarded major project status by the federal government in August of last year, in a move that CIP says will help it to navigate complex regulatory regimes.

The project’s CEO, Shohan Seneviratne says confirmation this week of federal government funding reinforces the shared vision to establish a leading green hydrogen industry in Australia.

“We are committed to contributing to Australia’s green hydrogen ambitions by creating local jobs, supporting skills development and sharing project benefits with local communities, including First Nations,” Senviratne said on Thursday.

“We appreciate the support from the Australian Government, Minister Bowen, and ARENA and commend their leadership, vision and collaboration to make Murchison and the Australian hydrogen industry a reality.”

Fiona Simon, the CEO of the Australian Hydrogen Council says the choice of MGH as the first official recipient of Hydrogen Headstart funding means it can now proceed to its next phase with private investors, partners, community and the government.

“Hydrogen Headstart is not a cash handout for the hydrogen industry, but an incentive applied once these large-scale projects start producing green hydrogen or derivatives to bridge the commercial gap,” Simon said on Thursday.

“It is a key lever to support a nascent industry that will unlock significant benefits particularly in our regions – from new jobs, skills and infrastructure, to decarbonisation of industrial sectors and the creation of new export opportunities.

“There is no ‘do nothing option’ when it comes to hydrogen,” Simon says.

“We need it as a large-scale option for decarbonising energy that requires molecules. And we need it as a chemical solution to produce commodities like green ammonia and green iron. And we also need to remain a trusted energy partner across Asia and the export of molecules is critical to Australia’s ongoing prosperity.”

Arena chief Darren Miller says enabling projects through Hydrogen Headstart will be essential to Australia’s decarbonisation efforts, especially in hard to abate sectors like ammonia, iron and alumina.

“CIP’s Murchison project is an example of how we can leverage Australia’s high quality solar and wind resources to produce low-cost renewable hydrogen and ammonia at scale, increasing export opportunities and embedding Australia as a key enabler of global decarbonisation,” Miller said on Thursday.

The Smart Energy Council also welcomed the news of the first funding allocation from Hydrogen Headstart as a serious demonstration that industry and government are determined to build a decarbonised metals and critical minerals industry.

“Announcing this project in WA makes so much sense,” SEC acting chief Wayne Smith said on Thursday.

“Our economic future sees Australia building decarbonised products like green iron and aluminium, turbocharging Australia’s economy, workforce, and energy security now and into the future.

“A critical ingredient needed to make Australia a renewable energy and critical mineral superpower is green hydrogen. This will unlock more of the country’s world-class hydrogen.”

MGH also has Lead Agency Status from the WA government. The revised project referral will now undergo full federal environmental assessments under the EPBC Act, with a decision on whether or not it can go ahead as planned to be determined by the federal environment minster.