Australian oil and gasoline producer Woodside Power’s plans to put in as much as a million photo voltaic panels and a grid-scale battery in Western Australia’s Pilbara area is a step nearer to realisation after the challenge gained native growth approval.
From pv journal Australia
Western Australia’s Regional Joint Growth Evaluation Panel has given planning approval for a 500 MW photo voltaic farm that Perth-based Woodside Power desires to construct close to Karratha, within the northwestern a part of the state.
The AUD 300 million ($196 million) challenge entails an preliminary 100 MW PV facility that may very well be expanded in levels as much as 500 MW. Woodside has additionally outlined plans to incorporate as much as 2,000 MWh of battery power storage – though this growth approval is restricted to the photo voltaic farm part solely.
The corporate stated the Woodside Energy Mission will see a photo voltaic facility and massive battery constructed on a 975-hectare website within the Maitland Strategic Industrial Space, roughly 15 kilometers southwest of Karratha.
Woodside stated the challenge will provide renewable power to be used by industrial prospects on the Burrup Peninsula, together with its personal Pluto liquid pure gasoline (LNG) export facility.
All transmission of energy from the photo voltaic facility could be delivered by way of the North West Interconnected System (NWIS), by means of current or new infrastructure owned by regional utility Horizon Energy.
Woodside Chief Govt Officer Meg O’Neill has beforehand stated the corporate is trying to capitalise on the area’s “world-class renewable power sources” and the willingness of business, authorities and different key stakeholders to co-operate on new power alternatives.
“Woodside’s imaginative and prescient is for large-scale provide of renewable power to current and future business on the Burrup Peninsula,” she stated. “We’re fortunate to have entry to considerable pure sources, secure and dependable power operations and each business and authorities which can be motivated to drive sustainable power outcomes.”
The planning approval for the photo voltaic farm comes simply days after Woodside joined different world gamers in signing the oil and gasoline decarbonisation constitution on the COP28 summit being held within the United Arab Emirates.
The constitution, aimed toward accelerating methane emissions discount, contains main business gamers like BP, Shell, TotalEnergies and ExxonMobil, amongst its 50 signatories.
Below the constitution, signatories have agreed to finish routine flaring and “near-zero upstream methane emissions” by 2030.
O’Neill stated the constitution reinforces Woodside’s current commitments to lowering carbon and methane emissions and to investing within the services prospects want as they do the identical.
“The signatories have additionally agreed to work in the direction of business finest practices and key actions in quite a lot of areas,” she stated. “[These include] emissions discount, investing in renewables and low-carbon fuels, and improved transparency by means of enhanced measurement, reporting and verification of greenhouse gasoline emissions.”
Woodside has dedicated to lowering its carbon emission by 30% by 2030 and plans to attain internet zero by 2050 or sooner and has beforehand outlined plans to focus on investments of greater than AUD 7 billion in rising new power this decade.
That nonetheless compares with its deliberate spend on large-scale oil and gasoline tasks, together with its Scarborough gasoline area challenge off the coast of Western Australia.
With a price ticket of AUD 16.5 billion, the challenge will contain the development of a 430-kilometre pipeline, linking the Scarborough gasoline area to the mainland, in addition to a second manufacturing prepare on the Pluto LNG processing plant.
This content material is protected by copyright and will not be reused. If you wish to cooperate with us and wish to reuse a few of our content material, please contact: editors@pv-magazine.com.
