The ‘land down under’ is boasting one of the biggest projects ever seen! Its desert is known for being home to the biggest count of wild camels, and now, it will also be known for being covered by 20 million solar panels. This gigantic project will certainly improve the land down under’s position in global renewable energy solutions.

One of the biggest energy projects ever seen

The entire world is dreaming of the day when we officially stop depending on fossil fuels and permanently transition to renewable energy. Australia might help that dream become a reality sooner than we thought, as it has one of the world’s biggest projects ever seen, namely the Western Green Energy Hub (WGEH) on Western Australia’s desert coast. And it sure is big – imagine a green hub that takes up 22,700 square kilometers.

The scale of WGEH is comparable to 47 various countries’ territories, which makes other renewable energy projects seem puny. No offense to Karapinar in Turkey (20 km²), Urumqi in China (133 km²), or Khavda in India (600 km²). The construction of this hub reportedly will transpire in seven stages spanning over 30 years. Various companies, such as CWP Global, InterContinental Energy, and Mirning Green Energy Limited, have a hand in the WGEH project.

It’s big, it’s clean, and it’s extremely powerful

According to CPG, the project will comprise 3,000 wind turbines varying between 7 and 20 MW, as well as 60 million solar panels scattered across 35 solar parks. When combining the entire project’s capacity, it will reach a total of nearly 70 GW. Experts believe that the WGEH project will produce over 200 terawatt-hours of clean energy annually, which is more than the annual electric production of most countries.

This is a major step up, considering that Australia produces just a little more than that annually. Per CPG, the land down under produced 273 terawatt-hours of energy in 2023, of which the majority still came from fossil fuels such as natural gas and coal. This project will ensure that Australia has the smallest carbon footprint possible!

According to the Government of Western Australia’s Environmental Protection Authority, initial proposals of the project highlighted that a series of wind turbines and solar farms will include:

  • Centrally-sited hydrogen electrolysers
  • Data centres
  • Electrical infrastructure, pumping, and cooling systems

Powering the land down under and the rest of the world

The initial proposals also indicated that a green ammonia generation facility, workshops, fabrication facilities, as well as worker villages would be included in the WGEH project. Coastal and offshore components within State Waters would include:

  • A desalination plant
  • A marine offloading facility
  • A Brine pipeline
  • An ammonia export pipeline

So, it’s upgraded infrastructure, a boost in job opportunities, and lots and lots of energy. Should the production of energy exceed demand, the next step would be to use the excess energy to create 3,5 million tonnes of green hydrogen annually. The aim will be to store the green hydrogen for times when production is low, resulting in uninterrupted clean energy locally and internationally. And so Australia will power the world by utilizing green ammonia, and will simultaneously decarbonize many sectors.

By 2050, 35 cores will reportedly have been installed to meet the growing market energy demand. However, the project will still face some hurdles, as only China currently has 20 MW turbines in the world, and getting those massive 131-meter blades to Australia will be challenging.

Nonetheless, the WGEH project may certainly result in a new relationship with Southeast Asia, whether it will be positive or negative is too soon to tell. Soon, Australia’s desert will be greener than ever thanks to this treasure of a hub, which may leave many clean energy big shots green with envy.