Australia’s giant AREH project scales back its hydrogen/ammonia ambitions

The Australian Renewable Energy Hub (AREH) in Western Australia, originally envisioned as a 26 GW renewable-energy complex with very large hydrogen and ammonia production, has substantially reduced its initial ambitions. The latest proposal focuses on roughly a 1 GW first phase, after developers withdrew the revised ammonia-focused configuration amid commercial challenges.

BP had already exited its 40.5% stake in 2025 after difficulties securing sufficient customer commitments.

Commercial implication: The green-hydrogen market’s bottleneck remains bankable demand, not renewable-resource potential. Huge projects cannot reach investment decisions simply because renewable energy is abundant or governments support the concept.

For India, this is an important warning as very large green-ammonia and green-methanol capacities are announced: the key questions should be who is buying, for how long, and at what price.