The Australian government has announced that the Murchison Green Hydrogen Project, being developed by Danish investment fund Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners (CIP) on the coast of Western Australia, has been has selected as a participant in the Investor Front Door program.
According to a joint ministerial release, the Investor Front Door will “streamline how project developers and businesses interact with government, helping them navigate approvals processes and fast-track major projects in the national interest.”
The Murchison project is planned for an 89,000-hectare site near Kalbarri, about 600 kilometres north of Perth. The proposal includes up to 6 GW of solar and onshore wind with a 600 MW / 1,200 MWh battery energy storage system powering 3 GW of electrolysers. The off-grid facility is expected to produce up to 1.9 million tonnes of green ammonia per year, primarily for export to Asian markets.
A 1.5 GW first stage was last year awarded up to $814 million (USD 572.65 million) in production incentives as part of the Australian government’s Hydrogen Headstart program and now the project is one of four chosen to participate in the Investor Front Door pilot.
Other selected projects include New Energy Transport’s plans to establish Australia’s largest electric trucking depot at Wilton south-west of Sydney. The depot is intended as the first in a wider network of electric freight hubs linking major cities across the country.
Under the Investor Front Door pilot, the government will provide project developers with a dedicated “engagement manager” who will provide a faster way to navigate regulatory and approvals processes and identify potential government financing opportunities.
“The Investor Front Door is all about streamlining and fast-tracking and supporting important investments and big projects in our economy where there’s a national interest benefit,” federal Treasurer Jim Chalmers said.
CIP welcomed the inclusion of the Murchison project in the Front Door initiative, saying will provide a central contact point to facilitate connections across various government departments.
“Treasury has set up a dedicated team which is responsible for implementing the initiative and helping to provide dedicated support to help selected projects navigate regulatory requirements, make connections with relevant government agencies, regulators and identify suitable government financing opportunities,” the company said.
In a project update published on the company’s website last month, Murchison Green Hydrogen Project Chief Executive Officer Shohan Seneviratne said the team is currently progressing project engineering design and approvals with a final investment decision expected next year.
“Pending receipt of all the relevant approvals and offtake commitment, CIP expects to maintain its current timeline for a Final Investment Decision on Murchison Green Hydrogen in 2027,” he said, adding that the company remains in “extensive discussions with key offtake partners in Japan, South Korea, Taiwan and Germany.”
CIP expects construction to commence following FID and take about five years to complete with early green hydrogen and ammonia production to begin in 2030 with full production expected in 2032.
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