Situated in the Pilbara region of Western Australia, AREH (the Asian Renewable Energy Hub) intends to supply renewable power to local customers in the largest mining region in the world while producing green hydrogen and green ammonia for the domestic Australian market and export to international users.
Situated on a 6,500-square kilometre site, AREH has plans to develop onshore wind and solar power generation in multiple phases to a total generating capacity of up to 26GW. At full capacity, AREH is expected to be capable of producing around 1.6 million tonnes of green hydrogen or nine million tonnes of green ammonia, annually.
The Pilbara is a globally competitive and energy intensive mining region with substantial energy demand and carbon emissions. At full capacity, AREH is expected to abate around 17 million tonnes of carbon in domestic and export markets annually, which would equate to roughly 0.5Gt of carbon savings over the lifetime of the project.
In a statement, Anja-Isabel Dotzenrath, bp’s executive vice president of gas and low carbon energy, said: “AREH is set to be one of the largest renewable and green hydrogen energy hubs in the world and can make a significant contribution to Australia and the wider Asia Pacific region’s energy transition.
“It truly reflects what integrated energy is – combining solar and onshore wind power with hydrogen production and using it to help transform sectors and regions. It also reflects our belief that Australia has the potential to be a powerhouse in the global energy transition, benefitting from both its existing infrastructure and abundant renewable energy resources.”
Bp said that when fully developed, AREH could provide significant net renewable generating capacity as well as making a material contribution to its strategic aim to capture a 10 per cent share in core hydrogen markets globally.
First proposed in 2014, the AREH project has been developed to date by partners that currently comprise InterContinental Energy, CWP Global and Macquarie Capital and Macquarie’s Green Investment Group.
Under the terms of agreement, bp will acquire a 40.5 per cent interest in the project and will assume operatorship from 1 July 2022, subject to approvals. The other partner shareholders in AREH will continue to be InterContinental Energy (26.4 per cent), CWP Global (17.8 per cent) and Macquarie Capital and Macquarie’s Green Investment Group (15.3 per cent).
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