Ross Garnaut’s Sunshot Energy is proposing to build a massive 800MWh battery as part of a green hydrogen and industrial hub in the Western Australian town of Collie, in the heart of the state’s coal country.
Sunshot, which is chaired by Garnaut, says it is assessing the economic case for establishing a hydrogen electrolyser, powered by renewable energy, which could also produce green ammonia and urea for agricultural and industrial uses.
It says a big battery of 600MWh to 800MWh would be a key feature of the hub, which would provide renewable energy to new and existing industrial projects in Collie.
The battery will be four times that the Hornsdale Power Reserve in South Australia and four times bigger than any other big battery proposed in Western Australia to date, including the Kwinana battery put forward by Synergy and the Wagerup battery put forward by Alinta.
See RenewEconomy’s Big Battery Storage Map of Australia
The W.A. government, which wants to establish new industries to support the town as the Muja coal fired power stations are progressively closed, has provided up to $1 million from the Collie Futures Industry Development Fund to fund the investigation into the Collie Battery and Hydrogen Industrial Hub Project.
Regional Development minister Alannah MacTiernan said downstream green industries, including green aluminium, would be crucial to the Collie region as it transitions away from coal into a major renewable energy centre.
“It makes sense for Collie, which is at the heart of the South-West energy system, to become a renewable energy industrial hub as we transition away from the coal industry,” she said in a statement.
“This project will provide a firm basis to progress a renewable energy hub in Collie.”
The government estimates the project will create $730 million of new investment in green industries and decarbonisation initiatives, including 500 construction and 400 ongoing jobs for the region, and encourage the expansion of manufacturing and minerals processing.
The plans by Sunshot at Collie appear to be similar to those announced in December for a renewable energy industrial development in central Queensland, using renewable energy sources to power and attract a range of manufacturing and agricultural businesses.
Garnaut’s Sunshot Energy and the Remote Area Planning and Development board (RAPAD) – which represents seven local councils – submitted an application for Northern Australia Infrastructure Facility (NAIF) to kick start the renewable energy industrial zone near the town of Barcaldine in central western Queensland.
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