UPDATE ON THE WESTERN GREEN ENERGY HUB PROPOSAL FOR THE NULLARBOR

September 8, 2025

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Gabriel Crowley (University of Adelaide).  Email: gay.crowley@adelaide.edu.au

In a 2024 survey, the membership of the Australian Rangeland Society (ARS) expressed overwhelming support for renewable energy projects in the rangelands. However, this support was conditional on projects being subject to stringent environmental and socioeconomic safeguards (Crowley 2024a). Members asked ARS to keep them informed about proposed projects, especially those with a large environmental footprint. Western Green Energy Hub (WGEH) is one such project.

WGEH was briefly described in a previous article in the Range Management Newsletter that reviewed renewable energy in the rangelands (Crowley 2024b). It is a proposed wind and solar farm project in the far southeast of Western Australia. Its total project area is 2,269,015 ha, and it will involve up to 27,188 ha of total clearing  and 77,206 ha of partial clearing (Environmental Protection Authority 2025a). Stage 1 of the project will comprise 3,000 wind turbines and approximately 35 solar farms (Western Green Energy Hub 2024). The proposed project area is on the land of the Mirning People.

The project aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by generating electricity, which is then converted – first to “green” hydrogen, and then to ammonia – for transport to the international market (Western Green Energy Hub 2023). Processing and port facilities will be established at Eucla, and it is envisaged that the project will generate up to 8,000 jobs (Smith 2024).

However, the project also comes with significant issues. The proposed turbines of with a rotor diameter of 200-275 m (Environmental Protection Authority 2025b) are massive. For example, the combined weight of the tower, turbine and blades of the IEA  Wind 15-MW Turbine, which has a 240 m rotar diameter, is 2,072 tonnes (Gaertner et al 2020). The proposed rock anchor foundation would add significantly to this weight. Placing such large turbines on porous, fractured limestone has been likened to placing a brick on a pavlova (Murray 2024).

At stake is the vast network of caves that underlies the Nullarbor Plain. These are spectacular and have recognised National and World Heritage values (Davey et al. 1992). Only three sites – on the South Australian side of the Nullarbor – have made it to the National Heritage List (Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water 2025a), but several caves in the project area have equally significant values, and the plain in its entirety has “outstanding universal values” because it is the largest arid land karst system in the world (Davey et al. 1992).

Figure 1. Surface expression of the caves on the Nullarbor provides only an indication of the complex network below the ground (Photo: Bronwen and Stefan Eberhard)

Commonwealth disregards World Heritage Values

For the project to proceed it must be approved by the Minister for the Environment under the Environmental Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (EPBC Act 1999). The approval process involves considering how the project is likely to affect Matters of National Environmental Significance. The proponent’s initial referral states which MNES they believe should be considered in the assessment, and how they intend to avoid, mitigate of offset and detrimental impacts. Public comment on this referral was opened in January 2025 (Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water 2025a).

ARS made a submission on the referral which identified likely adverse effects on threatened species and communities, migratory species, Commonwealth land and recognised National and World Heritage values. However, the proponent had disregarded the heritage values in its referral. And the Minister agreed (Young 2025), presumably because the section of Nullarbor covered by the project area has not undergone formal gazettal as a National Heritage or World Heritage Area. So, the project’s impact on World and National Heritage values do not need to be considered by the Commonwealth Minister when he decides whether to approve the project and what conditions will be placed on its operations.

The Western Australian Government’s requirements are more stringent. While not mentioning World or National Heritage values in the scope of work that the proponents must undertake to gain Sate Government Approval, the Environmental Protection Authority did require assessment of heritage values, including geoheritage and cultural heritage. They specifically included assessing “the significance of potential direct, indirect and cumulative impacts to the significant landform features or systems within … in relation to the area’s geological stability at construction and over the life of the proposal” (Environmental Protection Authority 2025b). However, the directive did not require the proponent to outline how such impacts would be avoided or mitigated.

Figure 2. Vast caverns under the Nullarbor Plain have World Heritage values that deserve protection (Photo: Stefan and Bronwen Eberhard).

Implications for Local Government

WGEH falls within the Local Government Area of Dundas Shire. The Council minutes of March 22, 2025, summarised their concerns that the project will place a hefty logistic financial burden on the Shire:

“The Project’s heavy reliance on federal subsidies, potential strain on local infrastructure, and lack of financial safeguards create significant financial risks. Without clear commitments on funding allocations, infrastructure contributions, and rehabilitation responsibilities, the Shire cannot provide even an indicative cost estimate for the potential financial burden on local government services. The magnitude of this Project exceeds the Shire’s financial and operational capacity, making long-term economic risks unpredictable.” (Shire of Dundas 2025, p. 19).

The minutes also raised concerns over likely impacts on the natural environment, and the strain that would be placed on service delivery by the projected population increase, such as waste management, provision of health, emergency and education services, and law enforcement. 

Is green hydrogen going off the boil?

Green hydrogen projects have benefited from Government grants and tax concessions (Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water 2025b). Even so, several green hydrogen projects were apparently unviable, and have foundered (Stock 2025). Queensland Government has withdrawn its support of the technology (Lowrey 2025), and the South Australian Green Energy Hub has stalled for the want of customers (McLennan 2025). Some industry analysts believe that these issues are just typical of the teething problems of a new industry trying to prove itself (Verrender 2024). However, they validate Dundas Shire’s questions about whether the industry is viable without government handouts, and if partially constructed projects fail, who will be left with the clean-up bill.

Nullarbor book launched

The Save The Nullarbor group and Bob Brown Foundation have published a book describing, and sumptuously illustrating the natural World Heritage Values of the Nullarbor Plain (Eberhard and Law 2025). The aim of the book is to convince politicians that these values deserve protection, regardless of whether the Nullarbor has been formally gazetted as a World Heritage Area.

References

Crowley G. M. (2024a) Responses to the renewable energy in the rangelands survey, and next steps. Range Management Newsletter. July 31, 2024. https://www.austrangesoc.com.au/news/responses-to-the-renewable-energy-in-the-rangelands-survey-and-next-steps/ [Accessed August 14, 2025].

Crowley G. M. (2024b) Renewable energy projects in the Australian rangelands – what role for the Australian Rangeland Society? Range Management Newsletter. April 4, 2024. https://www.austrangesoc.com.au/news/renewable-energy-projects-in-the-australian-rangelands-what-role-for-the-australian-rangeland-society/ [Accessed August 14, 2025].

Davey A.G., Gray M.R., Grimes K.G., Hamilton-Smith E., James J.M. and Spate A.P. (1992) World Heritage significance of karst and other landforms in the Nullarbor region: A report to the Commonwealth Department of The Arts, Sport, The Environment & Territories.

Eberhard S. and Law G. (eds) (2025) The World Heritage Attributes of the Nullarbor Plain, Australia. Bob Brown Foundation and Save the Nullarbor. https://savethenullarbor.org/book/ [Accessed August 14, 2025].

Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water (2025a). Western Green Energy Hub referral. EPBC Number: 2024/10049. EPBC Act Public Portal. https://epbcpublicportal.environment.gov.au/all-referrals/project-referral-summary/project-decision/?id=5473a3f4-27d9-ef11-8eea-002248978a7f  [Accessed August 14, 2025].

Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water (2025b) National Hydrogen Strategy 2024. Australian Government, Canberra. https://www.dcceew.gov.au/energy/publications/australias-national-hydrogen-strategy[Accessed August 14, 2025].

Environmental Protection Authority (2025a) Western Green Energy Hub. https://www.epa.wa.gov.au/proposals/western-green-energy-hub [Accessed August 14, 2025].

Environmental Protection Authority (2025b) Western Green Energy Hub – Environmental Scoping Document. https://www.epa.wa.gov.au/sites/default/files/Environmental_scoping_document_public_comment/Final%20ESD%20-%20Approved%20220725.pdf [Accessed August 14, 2025].

Gaertner E., Rinker J., Sethuraman L., Zahle F., Anderson B., Barter G., Abbas N., Meng F., Bortolotti P., Skrzypinski W., Scott G., Feil R., Bredmose H., Dykes K., Shields M., Allen C. and Viselli A. (2020). Definition of the IEA 15-Megawatt Offshore Reference Wind. Golden, CO: National Renewable Energy Laboratory. NREL/TP-5000-75698. https://docs.nrel.gov/docs/fy20osti/75698.pdf [Accessed August 14, 2025].

Lowrey T. (2025) Federal government ‘surprised and disappointed’ by Queensland decision to end support for hydrogen project. ABC News. February 4, 2025. https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-02-04/bowen-disappointed-as-queensland-pulls-hydrogen-funding/104893618 [Accessed August 14, 2025].

McLennan L (2025)  Plans for a $600 million hydrogen plant at Whyalla shelved as government announces steelworks support package. ABC News. February 20, 2025. https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-02-20/hydrogen-plant-plans-on-ice/104961150 [Accessed August 14, 2025].

Murray W. (2024) Beneath the plains of the Nullarbor lies an underground world formed over millions of years. ABC News. April 23, 2024. https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-04-23/nullarbor-caves-renewable-energy-development-proposal/103758050 [Accessed August 14, 2025].

Shire of Dundas (2025). Confirmed Minutes, Ordinary Council Meeting, 22 March 2025. https://www.dundas.wa.gov.au/council-meetings/ordinary-council-meeting/ordinary-council-meeting/183 [Accessed August 14, 2025].

Smith E. (2024) Western Green Energy Hub proposal would transform the Nullarbor. What are the odds of it going ahead? ABC News. November 26, 2024. https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-11-26/western-green-energy-hub-nullarbor-renewable-hydrogen-ammonia-wa/104632512 [Accessed August 14, 2025].

Stock P. (2025) Green hydrogen has stalled in nearly every corner of Australia. So why is the government still revving it up? The Guardian – Australian Edition. March 25, 2025. https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2025/mar/24/green-hydrogen-stalled-australia-government-still-revving-it-up [Accessed August 14, 2025].

Verrender I. (2024) Two major green hydrogen projects have hit the skids. Does it still have a future? ABC News. October 5, 2024. https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-10-05/does-green-hydrogen-have-a-future/104434076  [Accessed August 14, 2025].

Western Green Energy Hub (2023). Project overview. https://wgeh.com.au/overview/ [Accessed August 14, 2025].

Western Green Energy Hub (2024). Western Green Energy Hub Section 38 Referral Supporting Document.

https://www.epa.wa.gov.au/sites/default/files/Referral_Documentation/Supporting%20Document_26.pdf [Accessed August 14, 2025].

Young E. (2025) Scientists warn $100 billion ‘green’ project will destroy WA heritage. WA Today. March 17, 2025. https://www.watoday.com.au/national/western-australia/scientists-warn-100-billion-green-project-will-destroy-wa-heritage-20250317-p5lk6b.html. [Accessed August 14, 2025].