Plans to produce 2 million tonnes of green ammonia a year powered by up to 6 gigawatts of Western Australia wind and solar have been chosen to participate in federal Labor’s first Investor Front Door pilot – a Treasury-led fast-track program for projects judged to be “in the national interest.”
The Murchison Green Hydrogen (MGH) project, a development owned by Danish giant Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners (CIP), proposes to install 3.7 gigawatts (GW) of wind and roughly 1.5 GW of solar near Kalbarri on the WA coast.
A 1,500 megawatt (MW) first stage of the project was last year awarded up to $814 million in production incentives from the federal government’s Hydrogen Headstart program, following a successful nip and tuck on the project’s design.
Through the Investor Front Door, the aim is to provide Murchison and the other three “pioneering” projects – including a renewable fuel project and the country’s first large scale electric truck depot – with what has been described as “VIP treatment by the government.
See also: Australia’s biggest electric truck depot takes shape, secures government support
Essentially, they have been chosen to receive a “dedicated engagement manager” to help navigate the regulatory process and identify “existing appropriate” public financing options. No money has yet been committed.
“These four project proposals are pioneering and experimental by their nature,” says a joint statement from Treasurer Jim Chalmers, infrastructure minister Catherine King and science and industry minister Tim Ayres.
“It is in our national interest to provide them with the tools and direction to offer them the best chance to succeed.”
In the case of the Murchison Green Hydrogen project – one of few major renewable hydrogen proposals to have survived past the conceptual phase so far in Australia – the aim is to underpin a model for commercial-scale production as well as green export opportunities.
The project’s plan to produce green ammonia is particularly significant against the backdrop of a conflict-driven global shortage of the critical fertiliser ingredient, that is delivering a double whammy – alongside diesel fuel shortages – to Australian farmers and the national food supply chain.
“We have long said that boosting productivity and navigating global economic volatility are two of our key economic priorities and the Investor Front Door is addressing both,” the ministers’ statement said on Thursday.
“The supply chain disruptions we are seeing as a consequence of the conflict in the Middle East demonstrate just how important it is to build up our sovereign capability in these essential areas.”
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