$300M FOR ENERGY

THE Northern Territory’s dream of becoming a clean energy superpower will be turbocharged by the $300m pledge, which the Coalition claims will see more than 3800 new jobs created.

In addition to significant pledges toward clean hydrogen industry and carbon capture in Darwin, INPEX would also receive $30m to explore whether the Petrel subbasin would be suitable for CO2 storage. The company would get a further $1m to conduct a study into the feasibility of clean hydrogen.

The Japanese government has previously expressed interest in using INPEX’s Darwin operations to export clean hydrogen back to Japan, to help the nation meet growing energy demand.

A further $96m would be made available to new clean energy projects in the Northern Territory. In addition to 16,000 new jobs by 2050, Mr Morrison said construction of renewable projects in the NT could employ another 13,000.

“Our economic plan for the Territory will deliver a jobs boom, creating a stronger economy for a stronger future,” the Prime Minister said.

“We want to harness the Territory’s position as a world leader in energy and turbocharge it, unlocking investment and generating more jobs.”

Energy Minister Angus Taylor said the investment in the Northern Territory’s LNG exports was vital, given global pressure on supply.

“Global demand for LNG is poised to grow in response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, and the Territory will benefit from another jobs boom as production decarbonises and new fields like the Beetaloo are opened up,” Mr Taylor said.

He said greenhouse gas storage opportunities gave Australia’s LNG a competitive advantage on the global market.

Harnessing of LNG in the Beetaloo Basin has been hotly contested by environmentalists, with the NT government putting in place significant controls on fracking.

Excerpt from NT NEWS article