A new North West town for 8,000 people will no longer be built as part of a massive renewable energy project when it re-seeks environment approvals.The proponent behind the North West energy project expects to submit an environmental application this year.
With a 26 gigawatt capacity — which is enough energy to meet a third of Australia's demand in 2020 — the Australian Renewable Energy Hub wind and solar project would have created green hydrogen and ammonia for export.through the federal Environment Protection and Biodiversity Act in 2021 despite a 15GW version of the project, minus the town, getting approval a few years earlier.
Taking a closer a look at applications through the EPBC Act shows refusals in general are rare regardless of the sector and their positive or negative contribution to climate change. And the Galilee Coal Project was rejected in 2008 for the impact its proposed port and rail components would have on a Ramsar site and a historic military training area.
within the boundaries of the Great Sandy Strait Ramsar site was rejected after going through a full assessment by the DCCEEW. Marine life at Crawfish Rock in Western Port Bay including a dendrilla cactos sponge, short-tailed sea slug, gorgonian coral and a feather shaped type of hydrozoa. The first version of the project would have laid electricity cables across the thin width of the beach and then along the Indian Ocean floor to Asian countries.
Then there were concerns brine outflow from the desalination plant could create a hypoxic dead zone in the shallow bay, with catastrophic potential if it got to the intertidal area most utilised by the birds. An Australian Conservation Foundation investigation found about 200,000 hectares of threatened species habitat had been approved for destruction by the federal government between 2012 and 2021 across all industries.
And in the case of bp and the Australian Renewable Energy Hub, there are a couple of options that would allow the proposal to still go ahead.