With BP being the most recent to acquire properties, international energy companies are still keeping an eye on agricultural property in rural Western Australia for the development of renewable energy sources.
Daisy Downs, a 27-hectare cropping property north of Mullewa, was purchased by BP for $23 million, and the company has stated that it intends to significantly increase the production of green energy in addition to the current agricultural enterprise.
About one-fourth of the land required by BP to build the 10 gigawatts of renewable energy capacity it will convert to hydrogen and ammonia for export from the WA government’s planned green energy center at Oakajee is likely to come from Daisy Downs.
The energy infrastructure that supplies communities from Geraldton to Kalgoorlie and Albany, known as the South West Interconnected System, has a current capacity of 3–4 gigawatts.
The building will house equipment for producing wind and solar energy, according to BP spokesman James Foley.
Additionally, it allows us a little more freedom in terms of what we can do with the land. We’ll focus on using wind and solar energy, but we may also search at ways to produce hydrogen on the spot.
In order to extend its renewable energy infrastructure, the company is negotiating with local landowners to gain access to an additional 73 hectares.
The beauty of it is that it can be done in harmony with farming, according to Mr. Foley.
You can continue grazing despite it. It does, however, provide a different source of income to assist farms in surviving droughts.
Daisy Downs was purchased from Western Australian agrifood company PenAgri, which paid $55 million in July 2022 for Daisy Downs and associated lands.
To continue cultivating, the land has been leased to a nearby farm company.
In the projected Mid West Hydrogen Hub at Oakajee, 120 kilometers west of Daisy Downs, BP is one of six businesses with land allocation.
Fortescue Future Industries, Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners, Green LOHC, Kinara Power, and Blue Diamond Australia are further proponents of obtaining a lease, as well as other groups.
The WA-based company Infinite Green Energy and the South Korean engineering firm Samsung C&T have signed a memorandum of understanding to construct a sizable green hydrogen plant along the coast and farther south.
Up to 9 gigawatts, or around 100,000 tonnes of green hydrogen annually, are expected to be produced at the Arrowsmith Hydrogen Plant, which will be 300 kilometers north of Perth.
Stephen Gauld, CEO of Infinite Green electricity, predicted that the facility would generate a lot of electricity.
For a year, he claimed, “it will power a big power station.”
It would presumably cover at least 700 road trains every day for large haul vehicles.
