Major Project status awarded to Northern Silica and Bonaparte Carbon Capture projects
The federal government has granted Major Project Status to two large-scale, renewable energy-related projects – the Northern Silica Project and Bonaparte Carbon Capture and Storage Project – and renewed that status for two others.
According to a statement from industry minister Tim Ayres on Thursday, Northern Silica (located north of Cairns) will produce “3 to 5 million tonnes of silica sand” annually for 25 years, with the mining project to supply “essential materials for domestic manufacturing of solar panels, silicon wafers and high-end electronics.” It is owned by Diatreme Resources.
The Inpex-led Bonaparte joint venture, located offshore northwest of Darwin, will “support emissions reductions in hard-to-abate sectors such as metal and chemical refining” and has claimed potential in developing “low-carbon industries in the region”.
“Granting Major Project Status to these initiatives marks a pivotal step in driving structural economic transformation and regional reindustrialisation,” said Ayres in a statement.
“Backing in renewable energy projects strengthens and diversifies the local supply chain while directly creating regional job opportunities and attracting further investment.
Major project status simplifies regulatory applications and approvals for projects that are valued over $50 million, face complex regulatory approval challenges, and that are considered “of strategic significance to Australia.” It typically lasts three years.
One of the projects that had its status renewed is the Australia-Asia Power Link (SunCable’s flagship project), which was proposed in 2018 to export solar electricity to Singapore, collapsed in January 2023 after a dispute between its investors, and was revived later that year. Its main backer is Grok Ventures.
In its current form, the AAPL project based in Darwin aims to create approximately 6 gigawatts of power “for both domestic and international markets, providing enough energy to power around 4.2 million homes.”
Also renewed was the Cobalt Blue-owned Broken Hill Cobalt Blue Project (BHCP), intended to produce “battery grade cobalt chemicals and become the first domestic producer of elemental sulphur”, with enough output annually for 375,000 electric vehicles.
Picture: credit 5B
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