Woodside Power has secured an settlement with conventional landowners the place it plans to construct the primary 50 MW part of a possible 500 MW solar energy plant within the Pilbara area of Western Australia.
from Australia’s pv journal
In January 2022, Australian fossil gas large Woodside Power revealed plans to construct a 500 MW photo voltaic facility and a 400 MWh battery vitality storage system close to Karratha, in Western Australia’s northwest, to assist energy Pluto liquefied pure fuel. (LNG) export facility. Now an settlement with the Ngarluma Aboriginal Company (NAC) has secured the land to construct the primary 50 MW photo voltaic mission and related battery system.
Woodside mentioned it has entered right into a bilateral Indigenous Land Use Settlement and an settlement with the NAC. The settlement pertains to lands being investigated for the proposed Woodside Energy Challenge to be inbuilt Maitland, about 15 kilometers south-west of Karratha.
The preliminary mission consists of a 50 MW photo voltaic vitality plant supplemented by a battery vitality storage system however Woodside mentioned there’s potential to develop the facility alternative to a most of 500 MW if buyer demand warrants.
The mission will present renewable vitality to industrial prospects within the area, together with Pluto’s personal LNG export facility. All energy transmission from the photo voltaic facility shall be delivered by means of the Horizon Energy-operated part of the North West Interconnected System to its prospects.
Woodside mentioned it’s advancing environmental research for the mission and submitted a referral to the Environmental Safety Authority in Nov. 2021. The corporate mentioned it continues to work with most popular builders, Pacific Power Group and Horizon Energy, to develop the photo voltaic, battery vitality storage system and transmission infrastructure wanted for the mission.
Woodside Chief Govt Meg O’Neill mentioned the settlement with NAC would enable the mission to maneuver ahead.
“We have now been with NAC on the facility alternative since 2019 and the agreements are an vital milestone to have a good time collectively,” he mentioned. “We stay up for persevering with to work with the individuals of NAC and Ngarluma as we transfer ahead with the facility alternative.”
The agreements set out a framework for the supply of social and financial advantages to NAC and Ngarluma individuals in relation to energy alternatives, and description how Woodside and NAC will work collectively to enhance energy alternatives, together with cultural heritage administration.
The settlement comes off the again of Woodside’s profitable proposal to ship a 600 MW inexperienced hydrogen megaproject in New Zealand.
Woodside is definitely not alone on the subject of photo voltaic uptake within the Pilbara. Rio Tinto just lately introduced plans to take a position AUD 600 million ($402 million) within the building of two new photo voltaic farms and battery vitality storage programs as a part of its efforts to decarbonize of operations within the Pilbara.
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