BP has stood down contractors working on its biofuel plant just weeks before discovering if its adjacent green hydrogen project will win $1 billion of government backing.
Ammonia is normally used to make fertiliser and explosives but is increasingly considered as a means to store, transport and use green hydrogen made with renewable energy or blue hydrogen made from gas with carbon storage.
Norwegian Yara has big plans for green ammonia in WA's north while local Wesfarmers looks to build another traditional carbon-intensive facility south of Perth.
The Pilbara's giant Asian Renewable Energy Hub has been shocked by the Federal Government rejecting it on environmental grounds after awarding it major project status.
If CO2 from Yara's Pilbara ammonia plant is buried WA could ship a clean fuel to displace coal in JERA's Japanese power stations, but underground carbon storage has its doubters.
In the race to decarbonise iron ore shipping Rio and BHP are chasing incremental improvements with LNG while Andrew Forrest's Fortescue wants zero-emission green ammonia ASAP.
WA will be home to two of the largest green hydrogen electrolysers in the world to feed an ammonia plant and inject the clean fuel into the South West gas grid.
The giant $50B Asian Renewable Energy Hub proposed for WA's Pilbara has upsized and switched from providing power to make green ammonia, in Australia's most ambitious hydrogen play.
