Anja-Isabel Dotzenrath, BP’s executive vice president of gas and low carbon energy, says the company believed that Australia has the potential to be a powerhouse in the global energy transition. pic, June 15, 2022 AFP
AFP – Fossil fuel giant BP revealed yesterday that it was taking a 40.5 percent stake in an Australian energy project being billed as one of the world’s largest renewable power stations.
BP said it would operate the $36 billion “Asian Renewable Energy Hub”, an array of solar and wind facilities sprawled over 6,500 square kilometres of Australia’s sparsely populated west coast.
The project is expected to have a generating capacity of 26 gigawatts, exceeding China’s vast Three Gorges hydroelectric dam – which is by some measures the world’s largest existing power station. It would also produce 1.6 million tonnes of green hydrogen each year, with plans to export much of this to major Asia-Pacific markets such as Japan and South Korea.
The arrival of a major player like BP – and the election of a new pro-renewables Australian government – is likely to give the project a shot in the arm.
Anja-Isabel Dotzenrath, BP’s executive vice president of gas and low carbon energy, said the company believed that “Australia has the potential to be a powerhouse in the global energy transition”.
The project is one of several large renewable power proposals in development across sun-kissed Australia, including technology billionaire Mike Cannon-Brookes’ Sun Cable, which aims to become the world’s biggest solar energy infrastructure network. Australia is currently one of the world’s top three fossil fuel exporters, a position that has come under increased scrutiny due to the impacts of climate change.
Source: AFP