The world’s largest renewables project has been proposed in Western Australia, covering an area half the size of Belgium.2
Two members of the consortium behind the plan, InterContinental Energy and CWP Global, are also involved in the Asian Renewable Energy Hub, another contender for the world’s largest green power site that was last month rejected by Australia’s environment minister. Hong Kong-based InterContinental is also seeking to develop a green hydrogen project in Oman.
Aside from environmental approvals, the main challenge for a huge project like the Western Green Energy Hub is finding buyers, according to Martin Tengler, BloombergNEF’s lead hydrogen analyst. While it is too early to tell, most of the hydrogen from the hub is likely to be exported by ship, which will become costly compared with local output in even the most expensive hydrogen producers such as Japan and South Korea, he said.
The hub would be built in phases and take advantage of high levels of wind and solar energy in Western Australia, the group proposing the project said.