Frontier beefs up solar and green hydrogen plans, as it joins renewables race in wild West

Western Australia is shaping up as the place to be for renewables developers with big plans and deep pockets, with a major new contender in the state emerging from the takeover of Waroona Energy by ASX-listed Frontier Energy.

Frontier on Monday announced its successful acquisition of all outstanding shares of Canada-owned Waroona, in which it previously had a 20 per cent shareholding, and claimed the deal had created “Western Australia’s largest renewable energy development company.”

The company, which has grand plans to produce some of Australia’s cheapest green hydrogen from a base in WA, says it now controls two grid connections, which will be capable of exporting more than 1GW of renewable energy to the state’s main grid, as well as a freehold landholding of 868 hectares at its disposal.

The closing of the deal, the company says, leaves it with solar development approvals in place for a 355MW project, which would be the largest in the state by some margin.

Frontier’s existing 120MW Stage One solar project at Bristol Springs – where it plans to build “WA’s largest vertically integrated renewable energy hub” – is said to be progressing through feasibility and nearing a final investment decision.

A previous announcement from the company said a Definitive Feasibility Study completed earlier this year had flagged the Bristol Springs project’s potential to be “an earlier mover and one of the lowest cost green hydrogen assets in Australia.”

“The Project benefits from its unique location surrounded by major infrastructure. This reduces operating and capital costs compared to more remote hydrogen projects, whilst also being surrounded by likely early adopters into the hydrogen industry in the transition from fossil fuels,” a statement said this week.

Frontier says it continues to assess “multiple value-added initiatives” to go with the planned solar projects, including hydrogen, “peaking plant and battery scenarios,” with more details expected to be released in the first half of 2024.

“Combining Frontier and Waroona provides the opportunity to develop one of WA’s largest solar projects in the fastest and most capital efficient manner, while also creating the critical mass required to secure financing,” said Frontier Energy managing director Sam Lee Mohan.

“With the transaction complete, we are fully focused on moving Stage One towards a Final Investment Decision in 1H24. There will be strong news flow over coming months, including the finalisation of studies and financing activities.

The Company has been assessing a number of strategies that have the potential to add significant value to Stage One development plans, and we continue to assess long term growth opportunities to make the project one of WA’s largest diversified renewable energy hubs.”

A green energy hot spot

Western Australia is a becoming an increasingly popular destination for major renewables double acts. Just last week, Atmos Renewables announced it had signed a joint venture to develop a gigawatt-scale wind, solar and battery portfolio in Western Australian with the UK-based Nomad Energy.

As RenewEconomy reported, the deal will help Nomad take a portfolio of work-in-progress projects in WA through to completion, including wind, battery storage and solar-plus-battery projects.

And last month, Macquarie’s new renewables-only vehicle, Aula Energy, unveiled plans to develop an initial portfolio of 4GW across Australia and New Zealand, including up to 2.4GW of yet unidentified onshore wind in WA, where it is teaming up with  Green Wind Renewables.