Western Australia OKs renewable power export project
The Western Australia (WA) state government has approved development of a 15,000MW solar and wind project, which will export electricity to Indonesia and supply the WA iron ore sector.
The project, in the Pilbara region of the state, is the first stage of the proposed Asian Renewable Energy Hub (AREH), which is targeted to expand to 26,000MW, WA minister for state development Alannah MacTiernan said.
Most of power generated from the project is earmarked for export to Indonesia, while 3,000MW will supply the local mining sector.
The project will also provide markets in Asia with green hydrogen and ammonia, MacTiernan said.
The AREH consortium includes Danish wind turbine manufacturer Vestas and Australian private-sector energy firms CWP Renewables and InterContinental Energy.
AREH is the largest renewable energy export project planned in Australia. The 10,000MW Australian-Asean Power Link in the Northern Territory (NT) includes the construction of a 3,000MW high-voltage power transmission cable which will transmit power from a proposed solar farm to Singapore.
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