Perdaman has closed the financing of its circa A$6 billion urea project to be constructed on the Burrup Peninsula, approximately 20 kilometres north of Karratha, Western Australia.
On completion of the project, Perdaman will be Australia’s leading fertiliser producer. The project funding is supported by Global Infrastructure Partners, which has committed to invest over A$2.1 billion in the project through a strategic equity investment. The funding is completed by a strong group of debt providers, including both the Northern Australia Infrastructure Facility and Export Finance Australia.
The facility will be the largest urea plant in Australia and one of the largest in the world. Urea is a vital component of the agricultural fertiliser market with increasing demand as more efficient and intensive global food production is required to meet the needs of a growing world population.
The construction of the plant marks a significant milestone for Australia’s future food security, and it represents the largest investment ever made in the Australian fertiliser industry. The plant’s expected production of 2.3 million metric tonnes per year of urea will help to address the growing demand for high-quality fertilisers, reduce the nation’s reliance on imports and enhance national resilience.
The project will utilise feedstock from Woodside under a 20-year agreement and has a 20-year offtake agreement with Incitec Pivot.
The urea plant incorporates the latest technology with optimised energy efficiency and low emissions: Topsoe for the ammonia synthesis and Snamprogetti & Thyssenkrupp for the urea and granulation processes.
The plant has been designed to minimise both industrial emissions and the carbon footprint of fertiliser production.
Perdaman has committed to making the urea plant net carbon zero by 2050 and is implementing global best practices with respect to greenhouse gas emissions. The plant also includes a world-class control system that will ensure that the urea produced is of the highest quality.
The company believes the project will provide a major boost to the Western Australian economy by generating an average of around 2,000 jobs during the four-year construction phase. On completion, the plant will provide 200 permanent jobs in Karratha and will be capable of providing security to Australia in respect of its needs for urea fertilisers and associated products such as diesel exhaust fluid (e.g. AdBlue).
Construction of the project will commence immediately and will be managed by Perdaman’s EPC joint-venture partners Saipem S.p.A and Webuild S.p.A.
Whilst Perdaman thanked and acknowledged the traditional custodians and the consultation process, there are claims that cultural heritage assessments and consultation with Murujuga traditional custodians remain incomplete, and the project will involve the removal of sacred rock art sites.
Kuruma Marduthunera traditional custodian and Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Heritage Protection Act Section 10 Applicant Josie Alec said the free, prior and informed consent has still not been given to Perdaman to remove these rocks.
“Not all traditional custodians have been consulted on this. We as traditional custodians are still in the process of setting up a meeting with Perdaman which they have tried to arrange for next week. We still have an outstanding cultural heritage assessment of industry damage to Murujuga under Section 10 of the Heritage Protection Act.”
