The Northern Territory is beginning to build the Middle Arm Sustainable Development Precinct, which will serve as the state’s clean energy, investment and jobs powerhouse.
In a press release today, the NT government said the precinct is intended to reflect what the Territory’s future economy will look like, which focuses on hydrogen, carbon capture, natural gas, advanced manufacturing, and minerals processing.
The government has also issued “not to deal” commitments to five proponents over specific parcels of land at the precinct in order to give interested companies certainty as they develop projects at Middle Arm.
Under the commitments, the preferred sites of these companies will be reserved for up to 12 months, providing each proponent with confidence and certainty in developing their proposals.
These proponents are:
- Total Eren’s TEH2, which seeks to develop a green hydrogen production facility using solar energy to produce more than 80,000 tonnes of renewables-based hydrogen per annum;
- Fortescue Future Industries, which proposes the development of a green hydrogen hub comprised of green hydrogen and green ammonia production and export facilities;
- Tivan, is proposing to produce vanadium oxides through applications of innovative downstream processing technology using feedstock sourced from its Speewah and Mount Peake Projects; titanium dioxide and iron oxide also produced as by-products.
- Tamboran Resources Limited, which will develop a lower CO2 emission liquefied natural gas export facility; and
- Avenira, which is proposing a lithium-ferro-phosphate (LFP) cathode manufacturing facility, which will manufacture pre-cursor battery cathode materials from critical minerals, including phosphate sourced from the Wonarah Project in the Northern Territory.
The projects collectively represent tens of billions of dollars in capital investment and the creation of approximately 20,000 jobs in the Northern Territory.
Work on facility designs, engineering, feasibility studies, and environmental approvals are slated to begin now. All proponents are required to comply with all conditions set by the NT EPA as part of the Strategic Environmental Assessment process for the upcoming new precinct.
“Middle Arm is about building the Territory’s future. This is about new sources of renewable and low-emissions energy, new investment, new industries, and most importantly, new jobs for Territorians,” said Chief Minister Natasha Fyles.
“I can give you 20,000 good reasons why this is important. This will create new, permanent, long-term jobs for the Territory, and that’s what matters to me. Clean energy jobs are the future, and that’s the future we’re building for the Territory,” she added.
A Carbon Capture Utilisation and Storage Hub will also be developed as part of the Middle Arm Sustainable Development Precinct to mitigate emissions from existing and future natural gas processing and will accelerate low-emission industry development, including hydrogen production.
