€¦ · Web viewOnce intermittent solar energy has been turned into renewable H. 2 ... The Pilbara region’s world leading solar resources and availability of vast

Submission to Northern Australia Taskforce Green Paper on Developing Northern Australia

Pilbara Renewable Hydrogen Export Project (PRHEP)

Generating jobs, industrial diversification and new export industries for northern Australia

RenewableH2 Pty Ltd, as promoter of the PRHEP, appreciates this opportunity to make submissions to the Northern Australia Taskforce, to highlight the huge, near-term potential of renewable energy exports from Northern Australia to Asia.

The Pilbara region of Western Australia is exceptionally – perhaps uniquely - positioned to make a major contribution to the economic development of northern Australia, and to the deepening and broadening of Australia’s investment and trade connections with Asia in the energy, agriculture and finance sectors.

This paper outlines the proposal for the Pilbara Renewable Hydrogen Export Project (PRHEP) – a plan to embed renewable hydrogen, produced from sea water and Australian renewable solar energy at major industrial scale, as a mainstay of Asian energy and food security.

Background – Strategic and Economic Risks for Japan, Korea and greater Asia

Australia’s Asian neighbours, including particularly the economic powerhouses of Japan and Korea, have a large and growing need for energy security, for food security and secure supply of chemicals for manufactures. For decades, Australia has been a major participant in Asian energy markets through the export of coal and more recently Liquified Natural Gas (LNG). Sound relationships have been formed with Japan, China, India and South Korea in these market segments.

Similarly, Australia has developed strong relationships in the supply of agriculture and agricultural products such as fertilisers. The Yara Burrup Ammonia facility, for example, is one of the largest ammonia facilities in the world, and exports ammonia (derived from natural gas) predominantly to Asia.

But while Australia has a proven position as a reliable supplier of hydrocarbon-based energy and fertilisers, Australia supplies a comparatively small part of total fossil fuel-based supplies to Asia – oil remains the predominant part of hydrocarbon resource imports for Japan and Asia. Japan and the other major Asian economies remain highly exposed to geo-political risks in the Middle East, Persian Gulf, China and Russia, due to continued reliance on oil.

While Australia’s part of global supply in gas and coal helps to mitigate these strategic risks, Australia has no ability to influence global prices in hydro-carbon markets. Australia is a relatively high-cost supplier of gas, and is not a material supplier of oil.

1RenewableH2 Pty Limited (ABN 31 129 843 358) Suite 1005, Level 10, 4 Bridge Street, Sydney NSW 2000 / P.O. Box 342 Spit Junction NSW 2088

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Against this background – of escalating concern in Asia about global supply and pricing stability in hydro-carbon markets – the issue of climate change and carbon emission reduction continues to emerge as a further strategic economic concern.

In recent years – and (it can reasonably be projected) increasingly in coming years - Australia’s key Asian customers, led by Japan and Korea, are becoming and will become increasingly concerned about potential cost and sustainability impacts of global pricing of carbon emissions.

The huge, energy-intensive industrial economies of Japan and Korea are highly exposed to risks of carbon pricing. This risk has been dramatically exacerbated in the case of Japan by the Fukushima nuclear accident, which has brought to a sharp end Japan’s plans to increase nuclear energy production as a way to reduce carbon intensity (and reliance on oil). While levels of nuclear energy production before the Fukushima accident may be restored over time, there is little prospect of any material increase in nuclear power as previously contemplated.

And so Japan, Korea and the other major Asian industrial economies enter the 21st century facing new – and existential – energy and food security concerns. Strategic and climate risks flowing from continued reliance on oil and gas are higher now than at any time since World War II.

The Role of Renewable Energy

It is against this background that renewable energy is being considered by Japanese, Korean and Asian energy and agricultural planners.

Renewable energy for these economies is far more than a choice of ready options, as in Australia. The dramatic improvements in renewable energy technologies, and dramatic reductions in renewable energy costs, of recent years have presented new opportunities for Japan, Korea and Asia to break free from the strategic, economic and climate risks to which continued reliance on oil and gas would tie them.

Renewable energy – if available at sufficient scale and sufficiently low cost – has the potential to substantially liberate energy supply and food production in these economies from exposure to global geo-political risk.

Developments in renewable energy technologies have provided economic planners in Japan, Korea and Asia with new options to better secure their energy future, to strengthen agricultural production, and to insulate their economies from the costs and risks of geo-political tensions, global efforts towards carbon pricing, and climate change mitigation.

In response, these economies have dramatically increased investment in domestic renewable energy generation. For example Japan, in 2011, introduced some of the most aggressive solar, wind and other renewable energy support subsidies in the world. This has rapidly accelerated domestic solar photovoltaic production.


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However this acceleration of domestic renewable energy production has come a huge (and, arguably, unsustainable) cost.

The harsh reality for Japan and Korea is that, as with oil, gas and coal, they are renewable resource poor. The average solar resource in Japan and Korea is half that in the Pilbara. Wind resources are a fraction of those in southern Australia or the North Sea. Geothermal and hydro resources are largely exploited already. Their small land area and population density mean that land costs are prohibitive for renewable energy development on the industrial scale needed to ‘move the needle’ in these huge economies.

What then is the PRHEP?

And it is here that Australia, and the Pilbara in particular, can step in to provide a key element of the solution. The Pilbara region, already a centre of Asian investment for imports of mineral and energy resources, can also become the central player for import into Japan, Korea and broader Asia of renewable energy.

The PRHEP is a plan to harness the Pilbara’s vast solar resources, coastal (ocean) water resources and massive land assets to generate renewable Hydrogen (H2) from electrolysis of water on an unprecedented scale.

The Pilbara offers the land, solar resource, infrastructure, proximity to Asia and political stability to support renewable solar energy generation for export, on an industrial scale capable of driving transformational change in the supply chain for Asian energy and agriculture1. The unique attributes of the Pilbara together create an export opportunity unmatched anywhere in the world.

The PRHEP is a plan to: generate renewable (solar) energy in the Pilbara on a major industrial scale at a world-

leading low cost store this energy as the world’s lowest cost renewable hydrogen, ship this low-cost renewable hydrogen to Japan, Korea and Asia in the form of ammonia and

LNG - using export infrastructure already existing and planned.

This plan can embed Northern Australia, and the Pilbara, firmly in the heart of Asian economic growth in the 21st century as the principal provider of low-cost, renewable hydrogen.

The PRHEP has the support of leading corporations – global, household names - in Japan, Europe and the US. The PRHEP has been developed since 2011, and is now the subject of a major feasibility

1 1 – See page71 Japan Strategic Energy Plan 2014 http://www.enecho.meti.go.jp/en/category/others/basic_plan/pdf/4th_strategic_energy_plan.pdf


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study intended to lead to construction of a pilot project in 2015-16; the precursor to large-scale commercial roll-out.

The solar, electrolysis and hydrogen conversion and transport technologies to begin this new export trade with Asia exist today. They are neither novel nor untried; costs of these technologies are plummeting as global investment in renewable energy increases.

Beyond the proven technologies available today, massive investments are underway (in Asia, Europe and the US) to deliver and commercialise new technologies that will continue to drive costs down and to increase efficiencies in renewable hydrogen production, and in its conversion to ammonia and LNG for transportation in bulk.

Once intermittent solar energy has been turned into renewable H2 this gas can then be further processed into readily storable and transportable energy “vectors” for export - ammonia (NH3), liquid Hydrogen, and synthetic methane (CH4), all of which can be transported in bulk by ships to Japan, are methods available today.

And the benefits of the PRHEP extend to Australia’s domestic economy too – particularly to the mining sector. Mining is also a large user of energy (mostly, expensive diesel, which Australia imports). The development of an renewable fuel industry in the Pilbara through the PRHEP can offer reliable supply, sustainable cost reductions, and insulation from carbon emission pricing for Australia’s vital Pilbara mining industry.

The Pilbara’s solar resource is twice that of Japan and Korea. The Pilbara’s sparsely populated land mass is 30% larger than Japan and larger that that of Korea. The Pilbara is already an exporter of energy and fertilisers to Japan and Korea.

The opportunity exists now to build a new string to the Pilbara’s bow in her relationship with Japan and Korea; to harness and export the Pilbara’s renewable solar energy to Japan and Korea on a scale sufficiently vast to give rise to a completely new and multifaceted industry in Northern Australia. This is the objective of the PRHEP.


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Figure 1 depicts the current “Energy Carrier Study” being undertaken by the Japanese Government under its Cross-Ministerial Strategic Innovation Promotion Program.

This study contemplates pathways which include the generation overseas of hydrogen from renewable energy where the hydrogen is then transformed into ammonia as an energy carrier for import via chemical tanker into Japan.

This concept closely aligns with plans in Australia to implement the PRHEP as a pathway for exporting northern Australia’s vast resources of solar energy to Japan.

Figure 1 – Japan Cross- Ministerial Strategic Innovation Promotion Program – Energy Carrier Study

Production of renewable H2 as carbon-free energy for export will drive scale and lower production costs, enabling the Pilbara to become established as one of the world’s lowest cost producers of renewable H2,. Leveraging this low-cost clean energy foundation, a range of other “Green Chemistry” industries will be attracted to this region of northern Australia.

This is because H2 can be a vital feedstock for a broad range of chemical and industrial processes including plastics, fertilizers and even steel making. Many leading manufacturers in these industries are positioning themselves for the strong likelihood of a carbon constrained 21st century; mitigation of carbon costs and risks, and strengthening of sustainability credentials will incentivise producers of chemicals, fertilisers and steel to gain access to low cost renewable energy and renewable hydrogen feed-stock on an industrial scale.

Just as the La Trobe Valley in Victoria, and before that the Ruhr Valley in Germany, used their plentiful energy supplies to foster a diverse industrial base, the Pilbara can use its solar and land resources to generate an even greater, sustainable outcome for northern Australia in the 21 st century, bolted to the engine of Asian economic growth.


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PRHEP to start with 10 MW Pilot Project

The plans for the initial implementation of PRHEP involve the establishment of a 10MW PV solar farm and adjacent electrolysis plant to be constructed near Karratha with the resulting H2 to then be converted to one of the transport vectors referred to above.

The simplified diagram in Figure 1 below depicts the opening stages of the PRHEP at Pilot stage near Karratha where the export vector involves transporting renewably generated H2 to Japan in the form of ammonia (NH3):

Figure 2 – PRHEP’s initial project configuration, conversion of solar generated hydrogen for conversion into ammonia for export.

Following upon the successful implementation of the Pilot Plant, the next stages of PRHEP will see the roll out of GW sized projects across the Pilbara which will eventually see many millions of tonnes of renewable H2 exported to Japan and then eventually to other parts of Asia as well.

High value land use - multibillion dollar export industry in northern Australia

With current technologies we can estimate that:

a 1 GW PV solar farm will require approximately 2,000 ha of Pilbara land will generate approximately 2 million MWh pa of electricity this electricity can be converted into approximately 40,000 tonnes pa of renewable H2 which in turn could be converted to approximately 200,000 tonnes pa of renewable

ammonia for export.


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To put this into further perspective:

the land area of many of the pastoral leases in the Pilbara is 200,000 ha or more using only 10% of the land area of just one pastoral lease (20,000ha) for solar farming for H2

production could generate as much as 2 million tonnes of renewable ammonia for export at $500 per tonne, this represents a renewable energy export market (in ammonia alone)

valued at $ 1 billion pa.

In total, Western Australia has about 90 million ha under pastoral leases from which the Government receives a total rental income of approximately $5 million pa.

The overall size of the Pilbara is in excess of 50 million ha.

If one million ha of pastoral lease land in the Pilbara was devoted to housing PRHEP solar farms this could enable the export of approximately 100 million tonnes pa of renewable ammonia, which at $500 per tonne, would amount to a new export industry in northern Australia generating approximately $50 billion pa.

PRHEP to underpin large scale industrial diversification in northern Australia

As discussed above, exporting large volumes of H2 as a zero carbon energy source will also lay the foundation for new Green Chemistry industries to locate to this region of northern Australia.

This presents very significant opportunities to broaden employment, education, training and Research and Development in the Pilbara.

By way of example, the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries commenced their petrochemicals industry in 1981 and 31 years later were producing 121 million tonnes pa of petrochemicals and employing (directly and indirectly) 840,000 people (110,000 directly)2.

Currently the Pilbara is exporting just under one million tonnes pa of (fossil gas sourced) ammonia. The new renewable H2 paradigm offered by PRHEP could vastly increase these export numbers and make a major contribution to the Pilbara emulating the growth of the GCC’s chemicals industry.

Similarly in the sphere of education, training and R&D, the emergence of PRHEP offers exciting opportunities. There are many emerging cutting edge technologies to be employed by PRHEP including solar farming, electrolysis, hydrogen storage and transport and ammonia synthesis. The potential size of this new industry in the Pilbara will attract “Centres of excellence” for both training and R&D. Existing institutions of learning such as WA University, the CSIRO and a number of CRCs can be expected to play key roles in helping to build this new industry.

Creating new opportunities for the Indigenous people of northern Australia


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PRHEP will generate expanded employment and training opportunities for the Indigenous people of the Pilbara. At its heart PRHEP is a land based project. All the renewable energy for PRHEP needs to be collected from surface land areas on a very large scale

Indigenous people have a great connection with and understanding of the land. PRHEP’s solar farms “will rest lightly upon the land” and will not require open cut mining or laser levelling of sites. Solar panel locations can be flexible and can be placed in ways which avoid impacting on areas of significance to Indigenous people. Indigenous people can play valuable roles in assisting to maintain, protect and operate large scale solar farms in the Pilbara. There will also be opportunities for training and employment of Indigenous people in the downstream industries which will develop in the Pilbara as a result of access to renewable H2.

2 – See Mckinsey report http://www.mckinsey.com/Insights/Energy_Resources_Materials/When_gas_gets_tight_Next_steps_for_the_Middle_East_petrochemical_industry?cid=other-eml-alt-mip-mck-oth-1404

Questions raised in the Green Paper

We believe the insights offered by PRHEP Feasibility Study and Pilot Plant can make a contribution to many of the questions raised by the Green Paper.

Below we restate the questions as set out in the Green Paper and offer our responses from the perspective of the contributions that PRHEP can make to developing northern Australia:

A 1 – Are these the major characteristics of northern Australia?

We would add that large areas of northern Australia are sparsely populated while enjoying some of the highest solar energy resources on the planet.

A2 – How do these characteristics differ across and within northern Australia?

Not all land areas within Northern Australia are suitable for large scale solar farming. Extensive areas in the more northerly locations are subject to prolonged wet seasons which would make them less economic as locations for renewable energy generation. The Pilbara region offers the ideal location for solar farming on a major industrial scale.

A3 – What features of northern Australia are the most important to its current growth and future development?

Some areas of northern Australia, such as the Pilbara, offer the availability of large areas of sparsely populated lands with excellent solar energy resources, close of established port and other


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http://www.mckinsey.com/Insights/Energy_Resources_Materials/When_gas_gets_tight_Next_steps_for_the_Middle_East_petrochemical_industry?cid=other-eml-alt-mip-mck-oth-1404

http://www.mckinsey.com/Insights/Energy_Resources_Materials/When_gas_gets_tight_Next_steps_for_the_Middle_East_petrochemical_industry?cid=other-eml-alt-mip-mck-oth-1404

infrastructure, which can underpin the emergence of new renewable energy export and chemicals industries.

A4 – What do the population, demographic, employment and urbanisation trends mean for northern Australia.

The emergence in northern Australia of the new low carbon industries of the 21 st century, can offer enormous employment, training and lifestyle diversity for the region. It can provide a magnet for young, qualified people from a wide range of disciplines – energy, chemicals, agriculture, sustainability, financial markets and engineering - to move to the Pilbara region from across the world, enriching the depth and breadth of skills and capabilities in Northern Australia and positioning the Pilbara as a centre of global renewable energy investment and innovation.

Particular focus will be given through the PRHEP to broadening employment and training opportunities for the Indigenous people of northern Australia whose connection with and understanding of the land, will play a crucial role in the development of large scale solar farming in the region. The use of country for solar farming is sympathetic to and aligned with the sustainable land uses preferred by Indigenous people; development for the PRHEP, even on the very large scale proposed, will not cause Indigenous people to leave their lands, but rather will provide opportunities for Indigenous people to manage and oversee their land’s positive role in generating new energy and food security resources for the 21st century.

A5 – What are the prospects and major risks for the northern Australian economy over the next decade? What aspects of the northern Australian economy should be a focus for government?

The major risks for the northern Australian economy are: Continued overdependence on extractive industry as the sole major industry The region fails to harness its virtually limitless potential for production of renewable solar

energy for production of sustainable energy, fertilisers and other ‘green chemicals’ The region fails to implement appropriately staged plans to establish itself as the main

provider of renewable hydrogen to meet the growing needs of Asia’s energy, food security and chemicals industries

The region fails to recognise, and therefore fails to plan towards, the establishment of value-added industry in green chemicals, leveraging low-cost renewable hydrogen production

The region fails to attract new scientific and technology-intensive industries, and so fails to attract and maintain the range of high-value skills needed for 21st century economic development

The region remains predominantly associated (in domestic and international marketing terms) with extractive industry, to the detriment of other industries such as tourism.

The principal risk facing northern Australia is that the region remains overly dependent on mineral resources, particularly iron ore. Mining has unquestionably provided northern Australia, and the Pilbara in particular, with enormous benefits and wealth.


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However excessive exposure to and reliance on mining has created challenges for the sustainable development of the region.

Gyrations in market conditions. under-serviced challenge and the opportunity for northern Australia relates to the need for “bold vision”. The vastness of northern Australia is such that it needs new industries to be built at very large scale. The risk is that an absence of such vision will lead to piecemeal development which fails to harness the large scale technical, financial and land access resources which will be needed to build the new industries of the 21st century. It is here that government can play a valuable role. It does not require large funding commitments from government but it does require government to promote international awareness of the huge potential of northern Australia. Many global financial institutions are investing heavily (via such mechanisms as Green Bonds) in the re-engineering required for the 21st century and Australia must compete for this funding. Such institutional investors look for evidence that governments in the recipient countries are supportive of these investments and stand ready to welcome such investments. This is a vital role for Federal, State and Local government.

B1 – Are these the major global and domestic trends that are creating opportunities for development in northern Australia?

Yes, the Green Paper has correctly identified the major trends. We suggest however that under the trends headed “The rise of Asia” and “Global energy markets” there is need to recognise a growing appetite from some of our Asian trading partners for the import of renewable energy resources as recognised specifically in the Japanese Government’s latest Strategic Energy Plan (April 2014, page 71).

B2 – What does the rise of Asia mean for northern Australia? How could new opportunities be pursued?

Our Asian trading partners such as Japan have a growing appetite for importing renewable energy recourses. Leveraging off this demand by building a vast renewable energy export industry in the Pilbara, will also lay the foundation for the emergence of Pilbara based Green Chemistry industries which use renewable H2 as their feedstock. Many of these new Green Chemistry industries can be expected to be financed and operated by consortia which will include participation from our Asian trading partners.

B3 – What are the prospects to further expand northern Australia’s minerals and energy sector?

As referred to above, there is a very significant opportunity to develop in the Pilbara a vast new renewable energy export business to meet the growing appetite from some of our Asian trading partners for the import of renewable energy resources (See Japan’s Strategic Energy Plan, April 2014, page 71). The renewable energy developed for export can also be harnessed for local usage


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for the mining industry in the Pilbara.

B4 – What impact does the strategic environment have on northern Australia’s economic development?

Northern Australia’s close proximity to India and Asia presents significant opportunities for export to these regions of energy and chemical products which have been sourced from the Pilbara’s vast access to world leading solar energy resources.

B5 – What are the major opportunities to grow education, research and skills development in the north? What comparative advantages do northern institutions have?

The emergence in the Pilbara of a vast new renewable energy export business, coupled with the growth in Green Chemistry industries attracted to the availability of low cost renewable H2 as feedstock, will attract Centres of excellence to the region. Research and education institutions located in the region will be well placed to asses and model the performance of the technological enhancements to be deployed in the harsh and dry climate of the Pilbara.

B6 – How can Indigenous Australians in the north more actively participate in economic development?

As noted above, the vast solar farms to be built in the Pilbara to underpin the energy export and Green Chemistry industries of the 21st century will require access to large areas of land in the Pilbara. These solar farms “will rest lightly upon the land” and will not require open cut mining or laser levelling of sites. Solar panel locations can be flexible and can be placed in ways which avoid impacting on areas of significance to Indigenous people. Indigenous people can play valuable roles in assisting to maintain, protect and operate large scale solar farms in the Pilbara. There will also be opportunities for training and employment of Indigenous people in the downstream industries which will develop in the Pilbara as a result of access to renewable H2.

B7 – What are the opportunities to diversify northern Australia’s economy? What could be done to grow established sectors, such as agriculture and tourism?

As noted above there are exciting opportunities to diversify the economy in the Pilbara by leveraging off its world leading solar resources to develop the renewable energy export and Green Chemistry industries of the 21st century. The outputs from such new industries can support existing sectors such as agriculture for which energy and fertilizer are key inputs. The generation in the Pilbara of renewable ammonia sourced from renewable H2 can address the demand for both fertilizer and energy. Mining also is a large user of energy (mostly, expensive diesel) and the development of an industry in the Pilbara which produces renewable energy in a storable and transportable form can offer a reliable and low emission energy source for the local Pilbara based mining industry.

B8 – Are the north’s natural assets and resources underutilised? What can be done to realise the opportunities provided by the region’s unique natural qualities?


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The Pilbara region’s world leading solar resources and availability of vast areas of sparsely populated lands can underpin the development of very significant renewable energy export and Green Chemicals industries for the 21st century. The government can play a role in unlocking this potential by assisting private sector promoters in building international awareness of these vast new investment opportunities in the Pilbara.

C1 – Are these the major barriers to further economic development in northern Australia? What are the impacts on industries and communities?

Yes, the Green Paper has correctly identified the major barriers. These barriers make it challenging to attract both workers and investment.

C2 – What are the main factors that attract or deter people from living and working in northern Australia?

A key impediment to attracting people to northern Australia is a lack of industrial diversification. If the industrial base of places like the Pilbara can be diversified this creates enhanced opportunities for employment, education and lifestyle improvements.

C3 – What are the infrastructure limitations across northern Australia?

Industrial diversification will require clearer and simplified land access systems, better water availability and enhanced co-ordination of governance between Federal, state and local government.

C4 – How effective are the arrangements for accessing and using land in Northern Australia?

These need to be streamlined and simplified to promote better engagement between industry and Indigenous land owners, pastoral leaseholders and mining companies.

C5 – How effective has investment in water infrastructure and planning been in northern Australia? What impact has this had on economic development, industrial growth and the environment?

Water infrastructure and planning in northern Australia should be a high priority for improvement. A renewable energy export business will need to rely heavily on water as a source of H2 via electrolysis. Interestingly it costs approximately $1 per tonne (mega litre) to desalinate water and yet that tonne of water contains over 100 kg of potentially very valuable H2 which, after processing could be worth anywhere from $200 to $400.

C6 – What is impeding further business growth, trade and investment in the north? How do these challenges affect different industries?

The main impediment is lack of industrial diversification. Narrow economic bases impede the attraction of both labour and capital.

C7 – What are the governance challenges in northern Australia? How do they manifest in cities, towns and remote communities? How do they affect economic development in the north?


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Building industrial diversification in places like the Pilbara requires government to play key coordination roles in vital areas such access to water and to land. This in turn will require better co-ordination between Federal, state and local government to prioritise key projects for focus.

D1 – What are the right policy directions for further developing northern Australia? How can we support industry and community growth?

The policy directions identified in the Green paper are the correct ones to promote the development of northern Australia. However, ensuring that the policies deliver on the desired outcomes requires government to identify industry sectors which can offer the large scale developments the north requires. Government policies can then be focused so as to attract private sector funding to make those large scale industries a reality.

D2 – How effective are programmes and policies affecting northern Australia? How could they be improved?

They have been effective to date in laying the foundations for key pieces of infrastructure in places like the Pilbara but they now need to be focused on first identifying and then attracting the emerging large scale industries of the 21st century.

D3 – What should be the respective roles of the Commonwealth, state, territory and local governments, the private sector, non-government organisations and communities in pursuing these policy directions?

The private sector can take a lead by highlighting to the other stakeholders the natural “comparative advantages” of selected regions in northern Australia (for example the Pilbara’s high solar resources and land availability). From here the private sector can develop plans for building the industries of the 21st century which will leverage off these advantages. Government at all levels can then start to focus their policy directions to facilitate private sector investment in these industries. With stakeholder considerations then focused around these emerging industries, non-government organisations and communities can plan their roles in meeting the needs and aspirations of the workers and their families who will be attracted to the regions by these emerging industries.

D4 – How should national approaches be tailored to support development of northern Australia? What should this mean for other parts of Australia?

For the development of northern Australia to command broad community support , those promoting such development need to explain how Australia as a whole will benefit. In the case of a new renewable energy export business in the Pilbara, this requires an explanation of the jobs growth, improved taxation revenue and climate benefits that will ensue from such an industry.

D5 – In view of these possible policy directions, what specific actions should be taken to develop northern Australia? By Whom? Over what time period?

The Federal Government could initially sponsor a high level working group consisting of private sector and government representatives to meet for a workshop which would identify the large scale industries with potential to underpin significant growth in northern Australia in the 21 st century.


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Such a workshop could suggest priorities for government policy directions which focus on attracting the significant levels of local and overseas private capital which will be required to make these industries a reality.

RenewableH2 Pty Limited, 8 August 2014

Contact:

Brett Cooper, Chairman – M: xxxx xxx xxx; E: xxxxxxxxxxx

Andrew Want, Executive Director – M: xxxx xxx xxx; E: xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx


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Documents

€¦ · Web viewOnce intermittent solar energy has been turned into renewable H. 2 ... The Pilbara region’s world leading solar resources and availability of vast