Huge green iron project back on track with new land deal for giant electrolyser

A massive green iron project proposal in Western Australia (WA) has secured 480 hectares of land outside Geraldton, with the developer offering bullish views on how fast he can get take the site from dirt to production.

The Mid-West Green Iron project is a German-, Japan- and Korea-backed concept which plans to produce 50 million tonnes of green iron a year when it’s finished. 

The project is back on track after a two year delay: in 2023 a WA government-brokered deal saw the project win two lots in a nearby industrial estate.

Today, first production is now pencilled in for 2029, says James Rhee, the managing director of the company driving the project, Progressive Green Solutions.

That first stage envisages an annual 7 million tonne production quota of green iron pellets made from magnetite shipped in from the Kerara iron ore mine some 220km south of Geraldton. 

To get there, the 480 hectare site will need to host a 240 megawatt (MW) electrolyser as well as the green iron processing plant. Land outside the town will host the 1GW of wind and solar and a 1.2GW battery to run the green iron plant. 

First mooted in late 2022, the project’s key partner has shifted to a Germany company – currently confidential – with German government backing. 

The German government is keen for its companies to go overseas to manufacture much-needed materials that are too expensive to make at home, Rhee says. 

Progressive Green Solutions is about to launch into the development approval process and rezone the land from rural to industrial use.

Ambitious timeline

Rhee stands by his still-ambitious timeline of construction starting on both the processing plant and the renewable energy sites in 2027, and commissioning and first production by July 2029.

“We have already consulted with the state government. On our timeline and all the operable requirements, we are very confident because there is no environmental impact [on this land because it’s] technically a brownfield project,” he told Renew Economy. 

“Western Australia has everything, we have cheap renewable energy, high grade ore, a politically stable government, proximity to Korea and Japan, and a trusted partner with the Germans.”

His confidence is backed by deep pockets. 

The first stage of the project is set to cost $4.5 billion. But financial backing from the German government and a major – still confidential – global private equity fund means it has $5.6 billion to play with. 

A situation that has Rhee pushing to launch stage two alongside the first stage, which will be an annual 28 million tonne pellet plant but require significant extra infrastructure to be put in. 

Full steam ahead

The original project was backed by Korean companies who wanted to build a 1 million tonne per annum plant for a whopping $10 billion, which could produce 200,000 tonnes of green hydrogen by 2027.

In the last two years the Progressive Green Energy has firmed up the plans and its backers. 

The German company is now the lead partner and it has a plan to also produce 2.5 million tonnes p.a. of pellets made with a hydrogen and gas blend. 

If Rhee’s full vision is built, the project will produce 50 million tonnes of green hydrogen-made pellets every year and 12 million tonnes of pellets made with the gas blent, pulling in iron ore from Karara and from a partner he’s currently negotiating with in the mid-west of the state.

That total would backstop the WA government’s long-held dream of building a port at Okagee, just north of Geraldton, as the latter’s port capacity would top out at 32 million tonnes a year.