The state government will spend $20 million on a road to connect the Oakajee Strategic Industrial Area to the North West Coastal Highway, in a bid to activate a new renewables hub.
The state government will spend $20 million on a road to connect the Oakajee Strategic Industrial Area to the North West Coastal Highway, in a bid to activate a new renewables hub.
Highway Construction has been awarded the Main Roads WA contract for the job, which was a 2021 election commitment and could activate the long-mooted potential of the precinct 25km north of Geraldton.
Work will involve the construction of an access road and four kilometres of highway widening, with new acceleration and deceleration lanes to be built in support of heavy freight movements.
The upgrades will begin in the coming months and are due for completion next year.
Premier Roger Cook said the road would put Oakajee “on a path to becoming one of the state’s major clean energy jobs precincts”.
“Through the new access road, the $500 million Strategic Industries Fund and our lease incentive scheme, we're turning the Oakajee dream into a reality,” he said.
"Developing Oakajee will create thousands of long-term jobs for Geraldton, diversify the Mid West economy and help WA to become a global renewable energy powerhouse."
Oakajee is one of 13 Strategic Industrial Areas identified by the government as investment priorities.
The state’s ultimate vision of Oakajee, as outlined by DevelopmentWA, is for the creation of a heavy industrial area and multi-user deep-water port to support strategic and downstream processing in the Mid West.
Hydrogen and green steel have been earmarked for production in a region well endowed with solar and wind.
But ambition has not always matched development reality at Oakajee, a facility first floated in the 1960s and one where multiple governments and companies have sought to deliver infrastructure in support of industry without success.
In 1997, the Court government passed legislation in support of Kingstream Steel’s ambition to manufacture steel in the region – a move which ultimately fell flat.
The rhetoric has ramped up and down over the years since, with a number of companies exploring the opportunity without pushing ahead.
Fortescue is the latest to take a look at Oakajee and has been looking at the viability of a $9.7 billion port, mine and rail proposal under a memorandum of understanding with Sinosteel which could see it take a half-stake in the project.
As of last week, the miner was holding its cards close to its chest on the topic.
“We are studying many options on that, we matured the Oakajee study ourselves,” Fortescue Metals chief executive Dino Otranto said.
“Here in China we have discussed that and many options, so I would not say they are closed out just yet.
“The partnership with China is absolutely critical with China to make a green iron future.”
GFG Alliance, where former long-serving MP Alannah MacTiernan works as head of government relations, is also pursuing the Mid West as a potential site for green steel manufacturing.
Treasurer Rita Saffioti said the construction of the road was the first step on the path to her government’s Oakajee SIA vision, with flow-on effects for employment in the Geraldton region.
