Western Australia

The rollout of rooftop solar in the coastal town of Broome in northern Western Australia has received a major boost with a 274.45 kW PV system installed at the local high school as the state government continues its push to deliver solar energy solutions for its remote and regional schools.

British-headquartered oil and gas giant BP is a step closer to establishing a large-scale integrated renewables and green hydrogen project on Western Australia’s mid-west coast after outlaying $23 million for an almost 23,000-hectare property.

Australian renewable hydrogen company Infinite Green Energy has expanded its relationship with Samsung C&T, teaming with the South Korean industrial conglomerate to progress its flagship Arrowsmith project which is anticipated will produce more than 300 tonnes of renewable hydrogen per day using wind and solar energy.

International Graphite has made a key move in pursuit of its ‘mine to market’ strategy with the minerals startup securing a site for its proposed battery anode material manufacturing plant near the coal town of Collie in Western Australia.

The first large-scale battery storage project connected to Western Australia’s main grid has only just commenced operational testing and already plans are in place to build an even bigger battery at the site as the state government seeks to harness surging rooftop solar resources to meet its power needs as it prepares to dump coal power.

The West Australian government will plough almost $3 billion (USD 2.03 billion) into renewable energy generation, storage and transmission projects with modelling revealing more than 50 GW of new generation and storage capacity will be required in the state’s main electricity grid within the next 20 years.

Battery chemicals giant Albemarle will invest up to $2.25 billion (USD 1.5 billion) as part of plans to double its lithium hydroxide output in Australia to a volume that it estimates could power almost 2.5 million electric vehicles a year.

Independent power producer Alinta Energy expects work on a 45 MW solar farm and 35 MW/35 MWh battery energy storage system planned for Western Australia’s Pilbara region will commence inside two months following the appointment of contractors to construct and connect the hybrid project.

Western Australian startup International Graphite says its proposed graphite processing plant in Collie has been found to have “outstanding” economics by its new scoping study. Graphite is a vital element in lithium-ion batteries and International Graphite is one of a handful of Australian companies working to move its processing onto Australian shores.

Australian mining and processing company IGO and billionaire Andrew Forrest’s Wyloo Metals will progress plans to build the nation’s first integrated battery material facility in Western Australia after the state government approved the allocation of land for the up to $1 billion project.